CGI Group, Inc. (NYSE:GIB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

CGI Group, Inc. (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $117.00.

GIB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cibc Captl Mkts downgraded shares of CGI Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 14th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of CGI Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “sector perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of CGI Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Securities upgraded CGI Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective (down previously from $105.00) on shares of CGI Group in a report on Monday, November 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CGI Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in shares of CGI Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in CGI Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $144,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CGI Group by 53.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,452 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of CGI Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $174,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of CGI Group in the third quarter worth approximately $236,000. 66.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CGI Group Stock Down 8.0%

Shares of GIB stock opened at $79.68 on Wednesday. CGI Group has a fifty-two week low of $77.86 and a fifty-two week high of $122.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.61.

CGI Group (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by ($0.04). CGI Group had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 18.61%. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.97 EPS. CGI Group’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that CGI Group will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

CGI Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. CGI Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.99%.

About CGI Group

CGI Group Inc is a global information technology and business consulting firm that delivers a broad range of services including IT consulting, systems integration, application development and maintenance, infrastructure and network services, managed IT and business process outsourcing. The company works with clients to design, build and operate IT systems and business solutions, with capabilities spanning cloud and hybrid IT environments, cybersecurity, data analytics and artificial intelligence, digital transformation and enterprise resource planning implementations.

Founded in 1976 in Quebec by Serge Godin and André Imbeau, CGI has grown from a regional systems integrator into a multinational professional services organization.