Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $18.10 and last traded at $17.1170, with a volume of 3203251 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PBI. Bank of America raised Pitney Bowes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $9.50 to $16.50 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pitney Bowes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Pitney Bowes in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pitney Bowes from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Pitney Bowes from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.43.

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.63.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 8.92%.The firm had revenue of $477.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $471.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Pitney Bowes’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Pitney Bowes Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pitney Bowes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kurt James Wolf sold 322,829 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.40, for a total transaction of $5,617,224.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 264,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,642.80. This trade represents a 54.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 18,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.06, for a total value of $301,125.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 97,828 shares in the company, valued at $1,571,117.68. This trade represents a 16.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 3,030,097 shares of company stock valued at $46,661,100 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pitney Bowes

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes in the first quarter valued at $12,950,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Pitney Bowes by 39.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 326,865 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,612,000 after acquiring an additional 92,607 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems purchased a new position in Pitney Bowes during the 1st quarter valued at about $184,000. Amundi increased its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 20.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 34,318 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 5,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 29.7% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 202,484 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,237,000 after acquiring an additional 46,371 shares during the last quarter. 67.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes Inc (NYSE: PBI) is an American technology company that specializes in shipping, mailing, and e-commerce solutions. Founded in 1920 by Walter Bowes and Arthur Pitney, the company pioneered postage meter technology and has since evolved to offer a broad portfolio of hardware, software, and services designed to streamline physical and digital communications. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Pitney Bowes leverages a century of expertise to serve enterprises, small businesses, and government agencies around the globe.

The company’s core offerings span mailing and shipping equipment, including postage meters, folder inserters, and address verification systems, alongside integrated software platforms for customer information management, data analytics, and location intelligence.