StockNews.com Upgrades Quad/Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) to Strong-Buy

Quad/Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Quad/Graphics in a report on Friday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $10.30 price target on shares of Quad/Graphics in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Quad/Graphics Price Performance

Quad/Graphics stock traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $5.51. 313,264 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 218,243. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.35, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.85. Quad/Graphics has a one year low of $4.06 and a one year high of $9.13. The stock has a market cap of $288.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.34.

Quad/Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $708.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $726.70 million. Quad/Graphics had a positive return on equity of 58.44% and a negative net margin of 1.90%. On average, equities analysts predict that Quad/Graphics will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quad/Graphics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Miller Value Partners LLC increased its stake in Quad/Graphics by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Miller Value Partners LLC now owns 2,518,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,551,000 after purchasing an additional 634,315 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quad/Graphics in the fourth quarter worth $2,091,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Quad/Graphics by 171.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 293,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after buying an additional 185,344 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Quad/Graphics during the 4th quarter valued at $1,150,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Quad/Graphics in the 4th quarter worth $847,000. Institutional investors own 39.52% of the company’s stock.

About Quad/Graphics

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.