Short Interest in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) Grows By 16.9%

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,290,000 shares, an increase of 16.9% from the April 30th total of 10,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days. Currently, 7.9% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Pitney Bowes

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 298.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 277,469 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,977,000 after acquiring an additional 207,838 shares in the last quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC increased its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 18,587 shares of the technology company's stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares during the last quarter. Hestia Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the 4th quarter valued at about $114,326,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 768,373 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,563,000 after purchasing an additional 30,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter worth about $498,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PBI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Pitney Bowes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Pitney Bowes to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

Pitney Bowes stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.52. 1,063,624 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,130,279. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.72. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.61. Pitney Bowes has a 1 year low of $4.62 and a 1 year high of $11.01.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $493.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $498.99 million. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 20.95% and a negative net margin of 7.71%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Pitney Bowes will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. This is a positive change from Pitney Bowes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio is presently -30.77%.

Pitney Bowes Company Profile

Pitney Bowes Inc, a shipping and mailing company, provides technology, logistics, and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, large enterprises, retailers, and government clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through Global Ecommerce, Presort Services, and SendTech Solutions segments.