Quad Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) Downgraded to "Buy" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Quad Graphics' stock rating has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from "strong-buy" to "buy," reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment.
• Rosenblatt Securities has also lowered its price objective for Quad Graphics from $8.90 to $8.60, while Barrington Research maintains an "outperform" rating with a target of $10.00.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a positive EPS of $0.14, exceeding expectations, but it also noted a negative net margin of -0.55%.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quad Graphics (NYSE:QUAD - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on QUAD. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Quad Graphics in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on shares of Quad Graphics from $8.90 to $8.60 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st.

Quad Graphics Price Performance

NYSE:QUAD traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.71. 716,976 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 283,496. The company has a market cap of $339.59 million, a PE ratio of -20.92 and a beta of 1.43. Quad Graphics has a 1 year low of $4.13 and a 1 year high of $9.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.85, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $5.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.78.

Quad Graphics (NYSE:QUAD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.02. Quad Graphics had a negative net margin of 0.55% and a positive return on equity of 70.06%. The business had revenue of $571.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $555.05 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Quad Graphics will post 1.08 EPS for the current year.

Quad Graphics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Quad Graphics's payout ratio is -93.75%.

Institutional Trading of Quad Graphics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Quad Graphics by 467.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 80,250 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 66,111 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Quad Graphics by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 254,479 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,774,000 after purchasing an additional 85,565 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Quad Graphics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 679,717 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,739,000 after purchasing an additional 10,681 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Quad Graphics by 110.3% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 59,204 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 31,050 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Quad Graphics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $195,000. Institutional investors own 39.52% of the company's stock.

Quad Graphics Company Profile

Quad/Graphics, Inc provides marketing solutions worldwide. The company operates through United States Print and Related Services, and International segments. It offers printing services, such as retail inserts, publications, catalogs, special interest publications, journals, direct mail, directories, in-store marketing and promotion, packaging, newspapers, custom print products, and other commercial and specialty printed products; and paper procurement services.