Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $18.10 and last traded at $17.1170, with a volume of 3203251 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PBI shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Pitney Bowes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $9.50 to $16.50 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pitney Bowes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Pitney Bowes in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on shares of Pitney Bowes from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Pitney Bowes from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.43.

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.38.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Pitney Bowes had a net margin of 8.92% and a negative return on equity of 33.41%. The business had revenue of $477.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pitney Bowes Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Pitney Bowes news, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 18,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.06, for a total value of $301,125.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 97,828 shares in the company, valued at $1,571,117.68. This represents a 16.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kurt James Wolf sold 322,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.40, for a total value of $5,617,224.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 264,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,642.80. The trade was a 54.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 3,030,097 shares of company stock valued at $46,661,100 over the last quarter. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pitney Bowes

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Pitney Bowes during the first quarter worth $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 41.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 190.9% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,747 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Pitney Bowes by 404.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,022 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Pitney Bowes Company Profile

Pitney Bowes Inc (NYSE: PBI) is an American technology company that specializes in shipping, mailing, and e-commerce solutions. Founded in 1920 by Walter Bowes and Arthur Pitney, the company pioneered postage meter technology and has since evolved to offer a broad portfolio of hardware, software, and services designed to streamline physical and digital communications. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Pitney Bowes leverages a century of expertise to serve enterprises, small businesses, and government agencies around the globe.

The company’s core offerings span mailing and shipping equipment, including postage meters, folder inserters, and address verification systems, alongside integrated software platforms for customer information management, data analytics, and location intelligence.