Stagwell's (STGW) "Buy" Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $7.50 price objective on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on STGW. Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $6.50 target price on shares of Stagwell in a research note on Friday, March 15th. TheStreet raised Stagwell from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Stagwell has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $8.11.

Stagwell Price Performance

STGW traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.41. The stock had a trading volume of 681,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 524,463. The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -180.33 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.99 and a 200 day moving average of $5.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Stagwell has a 1 year low of $3.83 and a 1 year high of $8.59.

Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $654.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $683.12 million. Stagwell had a positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 0.09%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Stagwell will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Stagwell news, CEO Mark Jeffery Penn purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.20 per share, with a total value of $52,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,480,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,898,438.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Stagwell news, Director Wade Oosterman purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.04 per share, with a total value of $25,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 128,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $646,148.16. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Jeffery Penn acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.20 per share, with a total value of $52,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,480,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,898,438.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stagwell

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stagwell by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 20,266,750 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,369,000 after acquiring an additional 2,731,100 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Stagwell during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,842,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Stagwell by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,256,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634,128 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC purchased a new position in Stagwell in the first quarter worth about $10,541,000. Finally, CastleKnight Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Stagwell by 372.7% in the fourth quarter. CastleKnight Management LP now owns 1,467,760 shares of the company's stock worth $9,731,000 after buying an additional 1,157,239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 35.61% of the company's stock.

Stagwell Company Profile

Stagwell Inc provides digital transformation, performance media and data, consumer insights and strategy, and creativity and communications services. The company operates through three segments: Integrated Agencies Network, Brand Performance Network, and Communications Network. It designs and builds digital platforms and experiences that support the delivery of content, commerce, service, and sales; creates websites, mobile applications, back-end systems, content and data management systems, and other digital environments; designs and implements technology and data strategies; and develops software and related technology products, including artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled communications, research, and media technology, cookie-less data platforms for advance targeting and activation, software tools for e-commerce applications, specialty media solutions in the augmented reality space, and text messaging applications for consumer engagement.