Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Stagwell Inc. (NASDAQ:STGW - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $4.27, but opened at $4.43. Stagwell shares last traded at $4.32, with a volume of 721,819 shares.

Specifically, Director Charlene Barshefsky bought 24,350 shares of Stagwell stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.30 per share, for a total transaction of $104,705.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 185,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $796,858.80. The trade was a 15.13% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on STGW. Benchmark cut Stagwell from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Stagwell in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Stagwell in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Stagwell from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $8.60.

Stagwell Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -449.00 and a beta of 1.44. The company's 50 day moving average is $5.17 and its 200-day moving average is $6.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97.

Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.05). Stagwell had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.01%. The firm had revenue of $651.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $686.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. Stagwell's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Stagwell Inc. will post 0.59 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stagwell

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Stagwell by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 622,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,095,000 after buying an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Stagwell by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,944 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 1,892 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Stagwell by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 351,397 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,312,000 after buying an additional 1,974 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Stagwell by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 2,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in Stagwell by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 178,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. 35.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Stagwell

Stagwell Inc provides digital transformation, performance media and data, consumer insights and strategy, and creativity and communications services. The company operates through three segments: Integrated Agencies Network, Brand Performance Network, and Communications Network. It designs and builds digital platforms and experiences that support the delivery of content, commerce, service, and sales; creates websites, mobile applications, back-end systems, content and data management systems, and other digital environments; designs and implements technology and data strategies; and develops software and related technology products, including artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled communications, research, and media technology, cookie-less data platforms for advance targeting and activation, software tools for e-commerce applications, specialty media solutions in the augmented reality space, and text messaging applications for consumer engagement.