Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Trading 9.2% Higher on Earnings Beat

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) traded up 9.2% on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $28.45 and last traded at $28.09. 1,606,902 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 3,928,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.72.

The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $999.48 million. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 58.83% and a net margin of 16.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Gen Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Gen Digital from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,690,768 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,849,593,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513,464 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,227,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,896,000 after purchasing an additional 491,977 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,208,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $217,841,000 after purchasing an additional 119,354 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Gen Digital by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,184,489 shares of the company's stock worth $137,596,000 after acquiring an additional 117,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Gen Digital by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,370,678 shares of the company's stock worth $89,458,000 after acquiring an additional 32,870 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Gen Digital Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.58.

About Gen Digital

Gen Digital Inc engages in the provision of cyber safety solutions for consumers in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company offers security and performance products under Norton, Avast, Avira, AVG, and CCleaner brands that provide real-time protection and maintenance for PCs, Macs, and mobile devices against malware, viruses, adware, and other online threats.