Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Sidoti upgraded Pitney Bowes to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Pitney Bowes Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE PBI opened at $9.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of -8.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.80 and a 200-day moving average of $8.44. Pitney Bowes has a 52-week low of $4.62 and a 52-week high of $11.01.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $493.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $498.99 million. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 20.95% and a negative net margin of 7.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Pitney Bowes will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pitney Bowes

In other news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 78,285 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.66, for a total value of $834,518.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 606,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,463,040.74. This represents a 11.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total transaction of $1,407,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,907,650.35. This trade represents a 42.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 691,529 shares of company stock worth $7,442,109. 9.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pitney Bowes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hestia Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter worth about $114,326,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,162,512 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $153,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,716 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,245,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,918,742 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,415,000 after purchasing an additional 817,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 493.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 850,538 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,697,000 after buying an additional 707,133 shares during the last quarter. 67.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.