PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

PJT Partners Inc. (NYSE:PJT)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $125.72, but opened at $132.00. PJT Partners shares last traded at $133.16, with a volume of 69,869 shares.

The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $360.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $281.93 million. PJT Partners had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 7.96%. PJT Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS.

PJT Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. PJT Partners’s payout ratio is 27.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PJT. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on PJT Partners from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on PJT Partners from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $128.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of PJT Partners in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JMP Securities upped their target price on PJT Partners from $120.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.80.

Institutional Trading of PJT Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PJT. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in PJT Partners by 11,553.8% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 510,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,120,000 after acquiring an additional 505,712 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in PJT Partners in the 1st quarter valued at $43,029,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in PJT Partners by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,429,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,513,000 after purchasing an additional 317,437 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of PJT Partners by 934.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 129,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,230,000 after purchasing an additional 117,322 shares during the period. Finally, Woodson Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of PJT Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,150,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

PJT Partners Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 35.19 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $110.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.50.

About PJT Partners

PJT Partners Inc, an investment bank, provides various strategic and capital markets advisory, restructuring and special situations, and shareholder advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, institutional investors, and governments worldwide. It offers advisory services to clients on various transactions, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), spin-offs, activism defense, contested M&A, joint ventures, minority investments, and divestitures.