Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Shutterstock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Shutterstock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Shutterstock Stock Down 2.5%

NYSE:SSTK opened at $19.49 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $692.32 million, a PE ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.16 and a 200-day moving average of $20.67. Shutterstock has a 52 week low of $14.35 and a 52 week high of $32.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.48). The company had revenue of $260.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.60 million. Shutterstock had a return on equity of 16.30% and a net margin of 5.89%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Analysts predict that Shutterstock will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Shutterstock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.4%. This is a boost from Shutterstock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Shutterstock’s payout ratio is currently 78.57%.

Institutional Trading of Shutterstock

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Shutterstock by 10.7% during the third quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. WealthCollab LLC boosted its stake in Shutterstock by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Shutterstock by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in shares of Shutterstock by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 113,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Shutterstock by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. 82.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Shutterstock

Shutterstock, Inc (NYSE:SSTK) operates a leading global creative platform that provides royalty-free stock content to businesses, marketing agencies and media outlets. Its primary offerings include high-resolution photographs, vector graphics, illustrations, video footage and music tracks, all available through subscription plans or on-demand licensing. The platform also features customizable design tools and collaborative workspaces that enable customers to create and manage visual content more efficiently.

Founded in 2003 by Jon Oringer, Shutterstock began as an online marketplace offering a modest selection of images and quickly scaled its library to hundreds of millions of assets.