Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts assign Gen Digital a consensus rating of Hold from nine brokerages (6 Hold, 2 Buy, 1 Strong Buy) with an average 1‑year price target of $31.86.
• Gen Digital slightly beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.64 vs. $0.63) with revenue up 25.8% year‑over‑year to $1.24B, and management set Q4 FY2026 EPS guidance of 0.640–0.660 and FY2026 guidance of 2.540–2.560 (sell‑side consensus ~2.3 EPS for the year).
• The stock has a market cap of $11.53B and a P/E of 19.6, pays a 2.6% dividend (annualized $0.50, payout ratio ~51.6%), and is roughly 81.4% owned by institutional investors.

Shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.8571.

GEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Gen Digital in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised Gen Digital from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Gen Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Gen Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday.

Gen Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ GEN opened at $19.04 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.15. Gen Digital has a fifty-two week low of $17.78 and a fifty-two week high of $32.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 56.76% and a net margin of 12.76%.The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. Gen Digital's quarterly revenue was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Gen Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.640-0.660 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.540-2.560 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gen Digital will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Gen Digital's payout ratio is currently 51.55%.

Institutional Trading of Gen Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,310,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,993,302,000 after buying an additional 1,096,313 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 3.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,558,806 shares of the company's stock valued at $867,565,000 after buying an additional 1,015,755 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 2.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,961,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $651,867,000 after buying an additional 487,393 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 19,941,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $542,211,000 after buying an additional 3,640,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,644,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,336,000 after buying an additional 1,954,712 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gen Digital Company Profile

Gen Digital NASDAQ: GEN is a global cybersecurity company specializing in consumer- and small-business-focused security, privacy, and identity protection solutions. The company offers a suite of products designed to safeguard devices, networks, and personal information against malware, ransomware, phishing attacks and other digital threats. With a focus on user-friendly interfaces and cross-platform compatibility, Gen Digital develops antivirus software, VPN services, parental controls, password management tools, and comprehensive identity-theft monitoring services.

Gen Digital traces its origins to the consumer software division of Symantec Corporation, which was spun off in late 2019 under the NortonLifeLock name.

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