Xerox (NASDAQ:XRX) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Xerox (NASDAQ:XRX) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings assumed coverage on Xerox in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. They set a “sell (d-)” rating for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $2.50 price objective (down from $3.50) on shares of Xerox in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Sell” and an average target price of $2.50.

Xerox Stock Up 6.8%

Xerox stock opened at $1.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.94. Xerox has a twelve month low of $1.65 and a twelve month high of $6.81. The company has a market capitalization of $240.72 million, a P/E ratio of -0.23 and a beta of 1.71.

Xerox (NASDAQ:XRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The information technology services provider reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.25). Xerox had a negative net margin of 14.65% and a negative return on equity of 8.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. Xerox’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Xerox will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Xerox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Xerox’s dividend payout ratio is -1.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. S Harris Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Xerox in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new position in Xerox during the fourth quarter worth about $181,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Xerox by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 450,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 50,550 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Xerox by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 652,289 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 60,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Xerox in the 4th quarter valued at about $559,000. 85.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xerox Company Profile

Xerox Holdings Corporation (NYSE: XRX) is a global provider of document management technology and services. The company designs and manufactures a broad range of multifunction printers, production printers, digital presses and related consumables. In addition to its hardware offerings, Xerox delivers software and workflow automation solutions, managed print services and cloud-based document platforms that help organizations optimize their information-intensive processes.

Founded in 1906 as The Haloid Photographic Company, Xerox pioneered xerographic imaging in the late 1940s, launching the first plain-paper copier in 1959.