Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Sets New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $11.01 and last traded at $10.95, with a volume of 2967222 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $10.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on PBI shares. Wall Street Zen cut Pitney Bowes from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Sidoti upgraded Pitney Bowes to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Pitney Bowes Trading Up 0.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.61. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $9.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.03.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 7.18% and a negative return on equity of 31.61%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This is a boost from Pitney Bowes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Pitney Bowes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -30.77%.

Institutional Trading of Pitney Bowes

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PBI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,313,865 shares of the technology company's stock worth $192,890,000 after buying an additional 151,353 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Pitney Bowes by 38.9% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,918,742 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,415,000 after acquiring an additional 817,953 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 103.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,269,207 shares of the technology company's stock worth $9,189,000 after acquiring an additional 644,002 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Pitney Bowes in the first quarter valued at approximately $11,032,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Pitney Bowes by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 932,635 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,752,000 after acquiring an additional 280,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.88% of the company's stock.

About Pitney Bowes

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.