CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $150.75.

A number of research firms have weighed in on GIB. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of CGI from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Cibc World Mkts upgraded CGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. CIBC raised CGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised CGI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of CGI in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CGI

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of CGI in the 4th quarter valued at about $94,390,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in CGI by 23.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,513,733 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $519,072,000 after acquiring an additional 861,771 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of CGI by 68.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 555,017 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of 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. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of CGI by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 16,290,487 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,876,550,000 after purchasing an additional 230,000 shares in the last quarter. 66.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CGI Stock Performance

Shares of CGI stock opened at $117.87 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $110.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.95. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $96.92 and a fifty-two week high of $121.55.

CGI (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41. CGI had a return on equity of 19.59% and a net margin of 11.72%. On average, equities analysts forecast that CGI will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CGI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.1039 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. CGI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.32%.

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.