Quad Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quad Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

QUAD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Quad Graphics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Quad Graphics from $8.20 to $9.80 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Quad Graphics in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Quad Graphics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.90.

Quad Graphics Stock Performance

Shares of Quad Graphics stock opened at $6.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $346.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $6.50 and its 200-day moving average is $6.20. Quad Graphics has a one year low of $4.50 and a one year high of $7.54.

Quad Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. Quad Graphics had a return on equity of 49.71% and a net margin of 1.12%.The business had revenue of $630.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $632.90 million. Equities analysts predict that Quad Graphics will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quad Graphics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is a positive change from Quad Graphics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Quad Graphics’s payout ratio is 74.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QUAD. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quad Graphics in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,101,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in Quad Graphics during the second quarter worth approximately $1,763,000. Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in Quad Graphics during the 3rd quarter worth $1,426,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Quad Graphics by 103.5% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 278,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 141,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Quad Graphics by 53.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 370,504 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,093,000 after acquiring an additional 128,656 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.52% of the company’s stock.

About Quad Graphics

Quad Graphics, Inc (NYSE: QUAD) is a global provider of print and related marketing services, serving a diverse range of clients in the publishing, retail, e-commerce and consumer packaged goods sectors. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span traditional print production, supply chain management and digital marketing support. Quad Graphics leverages a network of production facilities and distribution centers to deliver high-quality printed materials and integrated marketing programs that help clients reach their target audiences across multiple channels.

The company’s core offerings include magazine and catalog printing, direct mail, retail inserts, shopper marketing materials, custom packaging and point-of-sale displays.