Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Sets New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Pitney Bowes shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $18.61 before closing near $18.18, as investors continued to bid up the stock.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, with several firms raising price targets or upgrading the stock; the current consensus rating is Hold with an average target of $16.43.
• Recent fundamentals were mixed: the company matched EPS expectations in its latest quarter and beat revenue estimates, but revenue still declined 3.2% year over year and the CEO sold a large block of shares.

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $18.61 and last traded at $18.1780, with a volume of 1700888 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Pitney Bowes from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Pitney Bowes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Pitney Bowes in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Pitney Bowes from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised Pitney Bowes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $9.50 to $16.50 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.43.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

• Pitney Bowes NYSE: PBI is Surging, Is it Too Risky?

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.62.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The company had revenue of $477.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Pitney Bowes news, CEO Kurt James Wolf sold 966,561 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.58, for a total value of $14,092,459.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 452,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,599,316.24. The trade was a 68.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 3,350,686 shares of company stock worth $53,305,322 over the last quarter. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pitney Bowes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 190.9% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,747 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Pitney Bowes by 404.6% during the 4th 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 purchased a new position in Pitney Bowes during the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company's stock.

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.

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