Rogers Communication, Inc. $RCI Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its Rogers Communication stake by 17.6% in the first quarter, selling 427,297 shares and retaining 2,007,135 shares valued at approximately $77.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 45.49% of the company.
• Rogers reported quarterly earnings of $0.83 per share, beating estimates of $0.80, while revenue rose 7.6% year over year to $3.95 billion. Analysts’ consensus rating remains “Hold,” with a $36.00 target price.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, or $2.00 annually, representing a 5.7% yield and a 17.51% payout ratio.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its stake in shares of Rogers Communication, Inc. (NYSE:RCI - Free Report) TSE: RCI.B by 17.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,007,135 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after selling 427,297 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.37% of Rogers Communication worth $77,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCI. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Rogers Communication by 8,881.3% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 7,196,876 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $271,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,116,744 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Rogers Communication by 138.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,080,341 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $191,681,000 after buying an additional 2,945,885 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Rogers Communication by 67.8% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,866,999 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $167,765,000 after buying an additional 1,966,476 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new position in Rogers Communication in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,082,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Rogers Communication by 98.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,025,580 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $77,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,963 shares during the period. 45.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RCI. Wall Street Zen lowered Rogers Communication from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Desjardins reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Rogers Communication in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Rogers Communication from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Five 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Rogers Communication Price Performance

RCI opened at $34.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.21, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.50 and a 200-day moving average of $36.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Rogers Communication, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.38 and a 12-month high of $41.14.

Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI - Get Free Report) TSE: RCI.B last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.91 billion. Rogers Communication had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 27.54%.Rogers Communication's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Rogers Communication, Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rogers Communication Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Rogers Communication's dividend payout ratio is 17.51%.

Rogers Communication Company Profile

Rogers Communications Inc is a Canadian integrated communications and media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company provides a broad range of telecommunications services to residential and business customers across Canada, including wireless voice and data services, cable television, high-speed internet, and home phone services. In the enterprise market it offers managed IT, data center and cloud solutions, networking and connectivity services targeted to small businesses, large enterprises and public sector clients.

In addition to connectivity services, Rogers operates a significant media portfolio that includes national and regional television and radio assets, sports broadcasting properties and other content businesses.

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