Wall Street Zen Downgrades Emerald (NYSE:EEX) to Hold

Key Points

• Emerald has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen, while Rosenblatt Securities maintains a "buy" rating with a target price of $7.80.
• Shares of Emerald are down 3.2%, trading at $4.80, with a market capitalization of approximately $950 million and a PE ratio of 96.00.
• The company reported earnings of ($0.01) EPS for the last quarter, surpassing revenue expectations with $105.5 million, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.4 million.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Emerald (NYSE:EEX - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Separately, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $7.80 target price on shares of Emerald in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

Emerald Stock Down 3.8%

EEX traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $4.63. 71,678 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 116,487. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business's 50 day moving average is $4.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.43. Emerald has a fifty-two week low of $3.21 and a fifty-two week high of $6.65. The stock has a market cap of $916.40 million, a P/E ratio of 92.58 and a beta of 1.16.

Emerald (NYSE:EEX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Emerald had a return on equity of 2.03% and a net margin of 1.83%. The firm had revenue of $105.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.02) EPS.

Emerald Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $0.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Emerald's dividend payout ratio is presently 120.00%.

Institutional Trading of Emerald

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EEX. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Emerald by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 186,403 shares of the company's stock valued at $898,000 after buying an additional 19,375 shares during the period. MSD Partners L.P. bought a new position in Emerald during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,410,000. Advisory Research Inc. grew its position in Emerald by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Research Inc. now owns 1,309,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,310,000 after buying an additional 175,000 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in Emerald during the fourth quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Emerald during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,970,000. Institutional investors own 14.90% of the company's stock.

Emerald Company Profile

Emerald Holding, Inc operates business-to-business (B2B) trade shows in the United States. The company provides B2B trade show franchises; and B2B print publications and digital media products, which provide industry specific business news and information across various sectors. It also offers B2B e-commerce and digital merchandising solutions to manufacturers and retailers through Elastic Suite and Bulletin platforms.