Castellan Group Boosts Stock Holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Key Points

• Castellan Group increased its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 114.7%, owning 24,170 shares valued at approximately $5.86 million, which represents about 1.6% of its total holdings.
• Broadridge Financial Solutions reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.44, exceeding analyst estimates of $2.41, along with a 5.0% year-over-year revenue growth totaling $1.81 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.88, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.4% and a payout ratio of 52.93%.

Castellan Group lifted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR - Free Report) by 114.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,170 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,914 shares during the period. Broadridge Financial Solutions comprises approximately 1.6% of Castellan Group's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Castellan Group's holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $5,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $580,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 497,751 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $112,537,000 after acquiring an additional 74,039 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 39,584 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,636 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 476,129 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $107,648,000 after acquiring an additional 1,956 shares during the last quarter. 90.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Price Performance

BR traded up $16.39 on Tuesday, hitting $264.85. 883,468 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 573,042. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The business's fifty day moving average is $241.63 and its 200 day moving average is $238.09. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.29 and a fifty-two week high of $269.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.83 and a beta of 0.94.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $3.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.04. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 44.82%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.50 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a $0.975 dividend. This is a positive change from Broadridge Financial Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Broadridge Financial Solutions's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BR. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $259.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a "buy" rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $250.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Hope M. Jarkowski sold 1,068 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.22, for a total transaction of $251,214.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,070 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,685.40. This represents a 49.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela L. Carter sold 4,829 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.23, for a total transaction of $1,169,728.67. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,242 shares in the company, valued at $1,754,229.66. The trade was a 40.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,116 shares of company stock valued at $4,352,298. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Company Profile

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions.