CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $153.25.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of CGI from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of CGI from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of CGI in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

CGI Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GIB opened at $98.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $111.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.09. CGI has a 52-week low of $96.92 and a 52-week high of $122.79.

CGI (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41. CGI had a return on equity of 19.32% and a net margin of 11.72%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CGI will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CGI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.1039 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. CGI’s payout ratio is 7.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CGI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Investments Inc bought a new stake in CGI in the 3rd quarter worth about $218,000. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CGI by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 10,426 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CGI by 18.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,165 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,564 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in shares of CGI during the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CGI during the third quarter valued at approximately $825,000. Institutional investors own 66.68% of the company’s stock.

About CGI

CGI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) and business process services. Its services include the business and strategic IT consulting, systems integration, and software solutions. The company also provides application development, modernization and maintenance, holistic enterprise digitization, automation, hybrid and cloud management, and business process services; intellectual property-based solutions; business consulting; managed IT services; and IT infrastructure services.