Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $226.71.

BR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $200.00 to $207.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $246.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 15,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.32, for a total value of $3,618,327.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,146 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,466.72. This represents a 56.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 24,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.21, for a total transaction of $5,325,778.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,975,838.77. The trade was a 47.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,532 shares of company stock worth $12,264,846 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadridge Financial Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BR. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 5.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,502,000 after buying an additional 2,235 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,417,000 after buying an additional 72,018 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,533 shares during the period. 90.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE BR opened at $230.35 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $229.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $26.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.85 and a beta of 1.08. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 52-week low of $188.30 and a 52-week high of $237.96.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.03. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 41.79% and a net margin of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio is 60.90%.

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.