Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Hits New 52-Week Low After Earnings Miss

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $25.11 and last traded at $25.5130, with a volume of 442845 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.94.

The technology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $420.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $427.38 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 20.04% and a return on equity of 30.05%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 6.45%.

Key Headlines Impacting Pegasystems

Here are the key news stories impacting Pegasystems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pega Cloud ACV grew 22% year over year, showing continued strength in the company’s cloud business.
• Positive Sentiment: First-half operating cash flow remained strong, supporting the company’s financial flexibility.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts at Citizens JMP downgraded Pegasystems from outperform to market perform, reflecting more cautious sentiment after the earnings report.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted the Q2 earnings snapshot and the size of the miss versus estimates, reinforcing the market’s focus on the quarter’s weaker-than-expected results. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Q2 earnings and revenue missed Wall Street estimates, which is the primary reason the stock is under pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Management said AI-related market shifts caused some customers to delay buying decisions, raising concerns about slower near-term bookings and ACV growth.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEGA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Pegasystems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research cut Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Pegasystems from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 4,545 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.35, for a total value of $151,575.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 107,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,784.50. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total transaction of $27,742.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,306.56. The trade was a 25.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,795 shares of company stock worth $229,613. Corporate insiders own 48.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PEGA. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. EFG International AG purchased a new position in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 96.5% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 617 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Signature Equity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 302.2% during the first quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 929 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 316.6% during the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 704 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $32.55 and its 200 day moving average is $40.24. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.87.

About Pegasystems

Pegasystems Inc is a software company specializing in customer engagement and digital process automation solutions. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Pegasystems develops enterprise applications designed to help organizations streamline operations, manage customer interactions and automate complex workflows. Its platform supports a wide range of use cases, from sales and marketing optimization to case management and robotic process automation.

The core of Pegasystems’ offering is the Pega Platform, a low-code development environment that enables businesses to build and deploy applications with minimal hand-coding.