Guardian Partners Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Rogers Communication, Inc. $RCI

Key Points

• Guardian Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Rogers Communication, Inc. by 8.3%, acquiring an additional 23,335 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 0.06% of the company, valued at $8,113,000.
• Rogers Communication reported $0.82 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, but its revenue of $3.82 billion fell short of forecasts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.3672 per share, representing a 4.1% dividend yield with a payout ratio of 72.64%.

Guardian Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Rogers Communication, Inc. (NYSE:RCI - Free Report) TSE: RCI.B by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 303,510 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,335 shares during the period. Guardian Partners Inc. owned 0.06% of Rogers Communication worth $8,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RCI. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Rogers Communication by 303.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,538,620 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $148,047,000 after acquiring an additional 4,166,861 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Rogers Communication by 373.1% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,870,559 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $76,671,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263,859 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its position in Rogers Communication by 1,252.8% in the first quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 2,312,136 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $61,808,000 after acquiring an additional 2,141,227 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Rogers Communication by 380.4% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,348,091 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $62,717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859,288 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Rogers Communication by 55.7% in the first quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,913,921 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $77,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,690 shares during the period. 45.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Rogers Communication from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rogers Communication presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.00.

Rogers Communication Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RCI traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.78. The stock had a trading volume of 739,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 811,420. The company has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $34.44 and a 200-day moving average of $29.45. Rogers Communication, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.18 and a 12-month high of $41.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI - Get Free Report) TSE: RCI.B last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.12 billion. Rogers Communication had a net margin of 7.33% and a return on equity of 21.59%. Rogers Communication's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Rogers Communication, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rogers Communication Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.3672 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This is a positive change from Rogers Communication's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Rogers Communication's dividend payout ratio is 71.64%.

Rogers Communication Profile

Rogers Communications Inc operates as a communications and media company in Canada. It operates through three segments: Wireless, Cable, and Media. The company offers mobile Internet access, wireless voice and enhanced voice, device financing, device protection, global voice and data roaming, wireless home phone, bridging landline, machine-to-machine and Internet of Things solutions, and advanced wireless solutions for businesses, as well as device shipping and express pickup services; and postpaid and prepaid services under the Rogers, Fido, and chatr brands.