Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Pitney Bowes has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from seven brokerages, with an average 12-month price target of about $15.18.
• The company recently reported quarterly EPS of $0.47, matching estimates, while revenue of $477.4 million topped forecasts but still declined 3.2% year over year.
• Pitney Bowes cut its dividend to $0.01 per quarter and saw notable insider selling, including CEO Kurt James Wolf selling more than 966,000 shares in May.

Shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.1750.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PBI. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $15.20 price target on shares of Pitney Bowes in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Pitney Bowes in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pitney Bowes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Pitney Bowes from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pitney Bowes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th.

Pitney Bowes Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of PBI opened at $15.48 on Wednesday. Pitney Bowes has a 52-week low of $8.95 and a 52-week high of $16.56. The firm's fifty day moving average is $13.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.29. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.64.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The company had revenue of $477.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $471.83 million. Pitney Bowes had a net margin of 8.92% and a negative return on equity of 33.41%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pitney Bowes will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.83%.

Insider Transactions at Pitney Bowes

In other Pitney Bowes news, CEO Kurt James Wolf sold 966,561 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.58, for a total value of $14,092,459.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 452,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,599,316.24. This represents a 68.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Brent D. Rosenthal bought 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.22 per share, for a total transaction of $40,880.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $91,980. The trade was a 80.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 2,346,530 shares of company stock worth $33,951,416 in the last ninety days. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pitney Bowes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 41.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 190.9% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,747 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 404.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,022 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 3,225 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 67.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes Inc NYSE: PBI is an American technology company that specializes in shipping, mailing, and e-commerce solutions. Founded in 1920 by Walter Bowes and Arthur Pitney, the company pioneered postage meter technology and has since evolved to offer a broad portfolio of hardware, software, and services designed to streamline physical and digital communications. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Pitney Bowes leverages a century of expertise to serve enterprises, small businesses, and government agencies around the globe.

The company's core offerings span mailing and shipping equipment, including postage meters, folder inserters, and address verification systems, alongside integrated software platforms for customer information management, data analytics, and location intelligence.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.