Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Pitney Bowes hit a new 52-week high after Bank of America upgraded the stock from underperform to neutral and raised its price target sharply to $16.50 from $9.50.
• Several other analysts have recently turned more positive on the company, and MarketBeat data shows the stock now has an average Moderate Buy rating with a $15.18 target price.
• The company also reported earnings that matched expectations, while insiders have been active sellers overall, including CEO Kurt James Wolf’s recent sale of 389,161 shares.

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from an underperform rating to a neutral rating. Bank of America now has a $16.50 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $9.50. Pitney Bowes traded as high as $16.52 and last traded at $16.4350, with a volume of 368285 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.70.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PBI. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $15.20 price objective on shares of Pitney Bowes in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pitney Bowes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on shares of Pitney Bowes from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pitney Bowes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Pitney Bowes in a report on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.18.

Insider Transactions at Pitney Bowes

In other news, CEO Kurt James Wolf sold 389,161 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.69, for a total transaction of $6,105,936.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 363,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,708,853.57. The trade was a 51.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Brent D. Rosenthal bought 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.22 per share, with a total value of $40,880.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $91,980. This represents a 80.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,456,054 shares of company stock valued at $34,864,180 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pitney Bowes

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Pitney Bowes by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Pitney Bowes by 190.9% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,747 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake 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.

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.64. The firm's 50 day moving average is $11.94 and its 200-day moving average is $10.87.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Pitney Bowes had a net margin of 8.92% and a negative return on equity of 33.41%. The company had revenue of $477.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $471.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. Pitney Bowes's revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio is 34.95%.

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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