Analysts Set Rogers Communication, Inc. (NYSE:RCI) Target Price at $36.00

Rogers Communication, Inc. (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.00.

Several research analysts have recently commented on RCI shares. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Rogers Communication in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Rogers Communication from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Rogers Communication from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Desjardins reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Rogers Communication Price Performance

Shares of Rogers Communication stock opened at $36.44 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.38. Rogers Communication has a 12-month low of $31.38 and a 12-month high of $41.14. The firm has a market cap of $19.68 billion, a PE ratio of 4.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.91 billion. Rogers Communication had a net margin of 27.54% and a return on equity of 11.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Rogers Communication will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Rogers Communication Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Rogers Communication’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in Rogers Communication by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,446,406 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $92,242,000 after buying an additional 32,872 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Rogers Communication by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 991,365 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $38,117,000 after buying an additional 39,638 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Rogers Communication by 277.6% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 317,533 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $12,208,000 after buying an additional 233,449 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Rogers Communication by 66.8% in the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 90,206 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $3,406,000 after buying an additional 36,114 shares during the period. Finally, Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Rogers Communication by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 160,009 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $6,048,000 after acquiring an additional 30,802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.49% of the company’s stock.

Rogers Communication Company Profile

Rogers Communications Inc is a Canadian integrated communications and media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company provides a broad range of telecommunications services to residential and business customers across Canada, including wireless voice and data services, cable television, high-speed internet, and home phone services. In the enterprise market it offers managed IT, data center and cloud solutions, networking and connectivity services targeted to small businesses, large enterprises and public sector clients.

In addition to connectivity services, Rogers operates a significant media portfolio that includes national and regional television and radio assets, sports broadcasting properties and other content businesses.