CGI Group, Inc. (NYSE:GIB) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• CGI Group, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from various brokerages, with a 1-year price target of $148.25.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.52, slightly exceeding estimates, despite revenues falling short of expectations.
• CGI Group announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.1086 per share, demonstrating confidence in its financial health with a low 7.95% payout ratio.

Shares of CGI Group, Inc. (NYSE:GIB - Get Free Report) TSE: GIB.A have received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the four brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $148.25.

GIB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on CGI Group from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on CGI Group from $112.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CGI Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of CGI Group by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 6,135 shares of the technology company's stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of CGI Group by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,870 shares of the technology company's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its stake in shares of CGI Group by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,905 shares of the technology company's stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in CGI Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,619 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC increased its stake in CGI Group by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 3,284 shares of the technology company's stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 66.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CGI Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIB traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $97.13. 241,832 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 348,891. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $99.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.27. CGI Group has a one year low of $92.85 and a one year high of $122.79.

CGI Group (NYSE:GIB - Get Free Report) TSE: GIB.A last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.01 billion. CGI Group had a return on equity of 18.53% and a net margin of 11.01%.The company's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that CGI Group will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CGI Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.1086 dividend. This is a positive change from CGI Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. CGI Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.95%.

About CGI Group

CGI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) and business process services. Its services include the business and strategic IT consulting, systems integration, and software solutions. The company also provides application development, modernization and maintenance, holistic enterprise digitization, automation, hybrid and cloud management, and business process services; intellectual property-based solutions; business consulting; managed IT services; and IT infrastructure services.