Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $206.67.

BR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $205.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $212.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BR opened at $194.23 on Tuesday. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 52 week low of $139.52 and a 52 week high of $210.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $22.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.84 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.34.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 41.12%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 7.72 EPS for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 22,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total transaction of $4,521,678.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 44,680 shares in the company, valued at $8,891,320. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robert N. Duelks sold 830 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.58, for a total transaction of $167,311.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,097,603.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 22,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total transaction of $4,521,678.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,680 shares in the company, valued at $8,891,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,483 shares of company stock valued at $9,745,637. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Broadridge Financial Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,951,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,870,556,000 after acquiring an additional 110,886 shares in the last quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.4% in the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,825,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $326,827,000 after buying an additional 43,235 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1,700.7% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,542,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $276,194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,456,847 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,452,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $286,360,000 after acquiring an additional 323,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,322,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $236,879,000 after acquiring an additional 70,258 shares during the last quarter. 90.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Broadridge Financial Solutions

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.