Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Pitney Bowes shares hit a new 52-week high after Citizens JMP raised its price target from $17 to $19 and maintained a market outperform rating. The stock traded as high as $17.12 during the session.
• Other analysts have also been broadly positive, with recent ratings ranging from buy to strong-buy, though the overall consensus remains Moderate Buy with a $16.43 target.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.47, matching estimates, while revenue came in above expectations at $477.41 million. Pitney Bowes also announced a small quarterly dividend of $0.01 per share, yielding about 0.2%.

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Citizens Jmp raised their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $19.00. Citizens Jmp currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. Pitney Bowes traded as high as $17.12 and last traded at $17.0150, with a volume of 460173 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.74.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on PBI. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Pitney Bowes in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Pitney Bowes from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $15.20 price objective on Pitney Bowes in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Pitney Bowes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Pitney Bowes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pitney Bowes

In other news, Director Brent D. Rosenthal purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.22 per share, for a total transaction of $40,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $91,980. This trade represents a 80.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 18,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.06, for a total value of $301,125.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 97,828 shares in the company, valued at $1,571,117.68. The trade was a 16.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 2,365,280 shares of company stock worth $34,252,541 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pitney Bowes

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PBI. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes in the first quarter worth about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 41.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 190.9% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,747 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 2,459 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased 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 worth $43,000 after buying an additional 3,225 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes in the second quarter worth about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company's stock.

Pitney Bowes Stock Up 1.5%

The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $14.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.64.

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

Pitney Bowes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Pitney Bowes's payout ratio is currently 38.83%.

Pitney Bowes Company Profile

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.

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