Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RCI) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.00.

Several equities analysts have commented on RCI shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Rogers Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America cut shares of Rogers Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Rogers Communications in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Rogers Communications from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rogers Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Rogers Communications by 123.5% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,727,400 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $206,565,000 after purchasing an additional 3,717,487 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in Rogers Communications by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 33,450,577 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,028,336,000 after buying an additional 2,244,240 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Rogers Communications by 1,252.8% in the 1st quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 2,312,136 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $61,808,000 after buying an additional 2,141,227 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Rogers Communications by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 7,736,202 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $237,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320,200 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Rogers Communications by 55.7% during the 1st quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,913,921 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $77,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,690 shares during the period. 45.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rogers Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RCI opened at $25.15 on Friday. Rogers Communications has a 1 year low of $23.18 and a 1 year high of $41.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.68 and its 200 day moving average is $30.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Rogers Communications (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. Rogers Communications had a return on equity of 25.19% and a net margin of 8.40%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Rogers Communications will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Rogers Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.3611 per share. This is a boost from Rogers Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.74%. Rogers Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.48%.

About Rogers Communications

Rogers Communications Inc operates as a communications and media company in Canada. It operates through three segments: Wireless, Cable, and Media. The company offers mobile Internet access, wireless voice and enhanced voice, device financing, device protection, global voice and data roaming, wireless home phone, bridging landline, machine-to-machine and Internet of Things solutions, and advanced wireless solutions for businesses, as well as device shipping and express pickup services; and postpaid and prepaid services under the Rogers, Fido, and chatr brands.