Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $11.00 and last traded at $10.61, with a volume of 4088895 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.32.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of -9.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.62.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.16. Pitney Bowes had a negative net margin of 7.71% and a negative return on equity of 20.95%. Analysts expect that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Pitney Bowes’s payout ratio is -21.43%.

Insider Activity at Pitney Bowes

In other news, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.66, for a total transaction of $12,075,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 622,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,935. This represents a 66.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lauren Freemen-Bosworth sold 42,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.12, for a total value of $343,540.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,664 shares in the company, valued at $151,551.68. The trade was a 69.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,405,593 shares of company stock worth $13,568,759 in the last ninety days. 14.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PBI. Hestia Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $114,326,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,162,512 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $153,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,716 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Pitney Bowes by 2,894.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,228,562 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,531 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in Pitney Bowes during the 4th quarter valued at $6,245,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 103.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,269,207 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,189,000 after purchasing an additional 644,002 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes Inc, a shipping and mailing company, provides technology, logistics, and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, large enterprises, retailers, and government clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through Global Ecommerce, Presort Services, and SendTech Solutions segments.