ADT (NYSE:ADT) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• ADT has received a rating upgrade to "strong-buy" from Zacks Research, highlighting positive market sentiment towards the stock.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.23, exceeding analysts' estimates, and a revenue of $1.29 billion, reflecting a 6.8% increase from the previous year.
• Major shareholder Apollo Management sold 71 million shares, a transaction valued at $590 million, reducing their ownership stake by 38.66%.

Zacks Research upgraded shares of ADT (NYSE:ADT - Free Report) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday, August 12th,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on ADT. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of ADT from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of ADT in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut ADT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $9.18.

ADT Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADT traded up $0.1750 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.8250. 9,449,601 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,034,847. The stock has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. ADT has a twelve month low of $6.68 and a twelve month high of $8.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.10.

ADT (NYSE:ADT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The security and automation business reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. ADT had a return on equity of 18.58% and a net margin of 12.30%.The business's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. ADT has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.810-0.890 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that ADT will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

ADT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.055 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. ADT's payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Apollo Management Holdings Gp, sold 71,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.31, for a total transaction of $590,010,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 112,650,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $936,124,541.46. The trade was a 38.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ADT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of ADT in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $219,825,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of ADT by 2,089.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 14,638,575 shares of the security and automation business's stock valued at $123,989,000 after purchasing an additional 13,969,976 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of ADT by 97.1% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 24,727,193 shares of the security and automation business's stock valued at $209,439,000 after purchasing an additional 12,182,009 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of ADT by 179.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,693,517 shares of the security and automation business's stock valued at $115,984,000 after purchasing an additional 8,796,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of ADT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,687,000. 87.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ADT Company Profile

ADT Inc provides security, interactive, and smart home solutions to residential and small business customers in the United States. It operates through two segments, Consumer and Small Business, and Solar. The company provides burglar and life safety alarms, smart security cameras, smart home automation systems, and video surveillance systems.