Constellation Software (TSE:CSU) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Here's Why

Key Points

• Constellation Software shares hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as C$3,078 and last at C$3,085.03 on a volume of 26,691 shares.
• Several analysts have trimmed ratings and price targets, but the stock retains a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a consensus price target of C$4,865.71.
• The company shows weak short-term liquidity (current ratio 0.93, quick ratio 0.55) and a very high debt-to-equity (169.83), while trading at a high P/E (~95.5) and offering a negligible dividend yield (~0.1%).

Constellation Software Inc. (TSE:CSU - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as C$3,078.00 and last traded at C$3,085.03, with a volume of 26691 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$3,210.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Constellation Software from C$5,700.00 to C$5,300.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. National Bank Financial cut Constellation Software from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. National Bankshares lowered Constellation Software from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from C$5,500.00 to C$4,500.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. CIBC reduced their price target on Constellation Software from C$5,480.00 to C$5,260.00 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$5,600.00 price objective on Constellation Software and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$4,865.71.

Constellation Software Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 169.83. The firm has a market capitalization of C$65.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.43. The business's 50 day simple moving average is C$3,315.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$4,003.28.

Constellation Software (TSE:CSU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported C$9.89 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$4.10 billion for the quarter. Constellation Software had a net margin of 6.57% and a return on equity of 27.34%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Constellation Software Inc. will post 55.4616354 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Constellation Software Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 12th. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 19th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Constellation Software's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Barry Alan Symons sold 2,500 shares of Constellation Software stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$3,304.25, for a total value of C$8,260,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 57,000 shares in the company, valued at C$188,342,250. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 5.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Constellation Software Company Profile

Constellation Software is an international provider of market-leading software and services to a number of industries. Our mission is to acquire, manage and build market-leading software businesses that develop specialized, mission-critical software solutions to address the specific needs of our particular industries. Our company was founded in 1995 to assemble a portfolio of vertical market software companies that have the potential to be leaders in their particular market. Since then, we have grown rapidly through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth, and established a strong constellation of companies with a large, diverse customer base.

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