Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Position in CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB)

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its stake in shares of CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,403,835 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 157,695 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 3.27% of CGI worth $809,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in CGI by 182.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 476,758 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,808,000 after buying an additional 308,040 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of CGI by 47.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,163 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of CGI by 120.9% during the 4th quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 6,760 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of CGI by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 289,654 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CGI in the 4th quarter valued at about $925,000. Institutional investors own 66.68% of the company’s stock.

CGI Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:GIB opened at $107.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $102.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.81. CGI Inc. has a 1 year low of $92.85 and a 1 year high of $122.79.

CGI (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. CGI had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 19.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.97 earnings per share. Analysts predict that CGI Inc. will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

CGI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.1086 dividend. This is a boost from CGI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. CGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on GIB. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of CGI from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $192.00 price target on shares of CGI in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on CGI from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CGI has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $156.75.

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.