Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on BR. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $239.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadridge Financial Solutions currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $213.33.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BR stock opened at $219.10 on Wednesday. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 12-month low of $166.73 and a 12-month high of $224.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.39 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $205.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.01. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 42.77% and a net margin of 10.73%. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is an increase from Broadridge Financial Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 12th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio is 60.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Christopher John Perry sold 17,534 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.41, for a total transaction of $3,741,930.94. Following the transaction, the president now owns 50,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,721,078.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President Christopher John Perry sold 17,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.41, for a total transaction of $3,741,930.94. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 50,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,721,078.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.11, for a total transaction of $5,227,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 200,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,963,149.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,386 shares of company stock worth $28,112,824 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,465,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 108.7% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 83,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,192,000 after acquiring an additional 43,710 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 99.6% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,627,000 after purchasing an additional 8,837 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 72.7% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 55,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,329,000 after purchasing an additional 2,685 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Company Profile

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions.