Pitney Bowes Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:PBI)

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 11,635 put options on the company. This is an increase of 138% compared to the average daily volume of 4,887 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Pitney Bowes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th.

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

PBI stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $7.42. The company had a trading volume of 785,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,796,163. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.01. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.99. Pitney Bowes has a fifty-two week low of $2.80 and a fifty-two week high of $7.70.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.10. Pitney Bowes had a negative net margin of 8.05% and a negative return on equity of 5.31%. The company had revenue of $793.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $771.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Pitney Bowes will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in Pitney Bowes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Pitney Bowes during the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. William Howard & Co Financial Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Pitney Bowes in the first quarter valued at $52,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the first quarter worth about $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Pitney Bowes Company Profile

Pitney Bowes Inc, a shipping and mailing company, provides technology, logistics, and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, large enterprises, retailers, and government clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through Global Ecommerce, Presort Services, and SendTech Solutions segments.