CGI (NYSE:GIB) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $120.69 and last traded at $120.84, with a volume of 102722 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $114.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. CIBC raised shares of CGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of CGI in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded CGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com upgraded CGI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on CGI from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $150.75.

CGI Stock Up 4.7 %

The company has a market cap of $27.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $110.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.41. CGI had a return on equity of 19.74% and a net margin of 11.53%. Sell-side analysts predict that CGI Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

CGI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a dividend of $0.111 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.4%. CGI’s payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CGI

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CGI by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 998,470 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $115,844,000 after acquiring an additional 79,362 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in CGI by 182.6% during 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 stake in CGI by 4.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 560,159 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,518,000 after buying an additional 21,427 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CGI in the third quarter valued at approximately $825,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in CGI by 68.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,368,822 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $157,485,000 after buying an additional 555,017 shares in the last quarter. 66.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.