Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $250.83.

BR has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $259.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, insider Hope M. Jarkowski sold 1,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.22, for a total transaction of $251,214.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,685.40. This represents a 49.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 3,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.26, for a total value of $855,796.82. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $1,441,829.02. This trade represents a 37.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,116 shares of company stock worth $4,352,298. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,733,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,572,199,000 after purchasing an additional 438,381 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,560,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $804,952,000 after buying an additional 1,186,555 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,689,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $409,662,000 after purchasing an additional 39,846 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,648,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $372,713,000 after buying an additional 40,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,615,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $365,177,000 after acquiring an additional 20,716 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BR opened at $244.61 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.73 billion, a PE ratio of 36.78 and a beta of 0.94. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $206.29 and a fifty-two week high of $257.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.03. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 44.82%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 12th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.93%.

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.