CGI (NYSE:GIB) Reaches New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Shares of CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $120.69 and last traded at $120.84, with a volume of 102722 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $114.54.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.1039 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. CGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GIB shares. CIBC raised CGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of CGI from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of CGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of CGI in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised CGI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $150.75.

CGI Stock Down 1.0 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.41. The company has a market capitalization of $26.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CGI (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.41. CGI had a return on equity of 19.59% and a net margin of 11.72%. On average, research analysts predict that CGI Inc. will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CGI by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 998,470 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $115,844,000 after buying an additional 79,362 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of CGI by 182.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 476,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,808,000 after acquiring an additional 308,040 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CGI by 4.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 560,159 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,518,000 after acquiring an additional 21,427 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in CGI in the third quarter valued at about $825,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in CGI by 68.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,368,822 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $157,485,000 after purchasing an additional 555,017 shares in the last quarter. 66.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CGI Company Profile

CGI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) and business process services. Its services include the business and strategic IT consulting, systems integration, and software solutions. The company also provides application development, modernization and maintenance, holistic enterprise digitization, automation, hybrid and cloud management, and business process services; intellectual property-based solutions; business consulting; managed IT services; and IT infrastructure services.