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

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $226.71.

A number of equities analysts have commented on BR shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $200.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $246.00 price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BR opened at $230.35 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $218.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.85 and a beta of 1.08. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 52 week low of $188.30 and a 52 week high of $237.96.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 41.79%. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 24,185 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.21, for a total transaction of $5,325,778.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,975,838.77. The trade was a 47.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 15,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.32, for a total value of $3,618,327.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,797,466.72. This represents a 56.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,532 shares of company stock worth $12,264,846 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadridge Financial Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 384.0% during the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2,028.6% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 149 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 246.7% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 156 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

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.