Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

STGW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Stagwell from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Benchmark lowered Stagwell from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.36 target price on shares of Stagwell in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Stagwell from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Stagwell in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.17.

Stagwell Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STGW opened at $5.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50-day moving average of $5.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.40. Stagwell has a 12 month low of $4.03 and a 12 month high of $8.18.

Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). Stagwell had a positive return on equity of 14.54% and a negative net margin of 0.06%.The firm had revenue of $706.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Stagwell has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.750-0.880 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Stagwell will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Stagwell news, Director Charlene Barshefsky bought 24,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.30 per share, with a total value of $104,705.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 185,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $796,858.80. This trade represents a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Eli Samaha purchased 425,757 shares of Stagwell stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.27 per share, for a total transaction of $1,817,982.39. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,774,322 shares in the company, valued at $33,196,354.94. This represents a 5.79% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 690,107 shares of company stock worth $2,985,887. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STGW. LPL Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stagwell in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Stagwell by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 65,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 10,105 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Stagwell by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 180,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Stagwell by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 149,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 15,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Stagwell in the 4th quarter valued at $110,000. 35.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stagwell Company Profile

Stagwell Inc provides digital transformation, performance media and data, consumer insights and strategy, and creativity and communications services. The company operates through three segments: Integrated Agencies Network, Brand Performance Network, and Communications Network. It designs and builds digital platforms and experiences that support the delivery of content, commerce, service, and sales; creates websites, mobile applications, back-end systems, content and data management systems, and other digital environments; designs and implements technology and data strategies; and develops software and related technology products, including artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled communications, research, and media technology, cookie-less data platforms for advance targeting and activation, software tools for e-commerce applications, specialty media solutions in the augmented reality space, and text messaging applications for consumer engagement.