CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $153.25.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GIB shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on CGI from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of CGI in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CGI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of CGI from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

CGI Stock Performance

Shares of GIB opened at $112.58 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.66. The firm has a market cap of $25.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.94. CGI has a 12-month low of $96.92 and a 12-month high of $122.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

CGI (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41. CGI had a return on equity of 19.32% and a net margin of 11.72%. As a group, equities analysts predict that CGI will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

CGI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. CGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.41%.

About CGI

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.