Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on Rogers Communication from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Rogers Communication from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Desjardins reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Rogers Communication Stock Performance

Rogers Communication stock opened at $36.11 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $34.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $19.51 billion, a PE ratio of 4.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.64. Rogers Communication has a twelve month low of $31.38 and a twelve month high of $41.14.

Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.91 billion. Rogers Communication had a net margin of 27.54% and a return on equity of 11.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Rogers Communication will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rogers Communication Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Rogers Communication’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rogers Communication

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RCI. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Rogers Communication by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 8,540,114 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $322,789,000 after acquiring an additional 195,189 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in Rogers Communication by 8,881.3% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 7,196,876 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $271,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,116,744 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in shares of Rogers Communication by 7.6% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,280,164 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $241,467,000 after purchasing an additional 445,964 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Rogers Communication by 138.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,080,341 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $191,681,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945,885 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Rogers Communication by 67.8% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,866,999 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $167,765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966,476 shares during the period. 45.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Rogers Communication

Rogers Communications Inc is a Canadian integrated communications and media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company provides a broad range of telecommunications services to residential and business customers across Canada, including wireless voice and data services, cable television, high-speed internet, and home phone services. In the enterprise market it offers managed IT, data center and cloud solutions, networking and connectivity services targeted to small businesses, large enterprises and public sector clients.

In addition to connectivity services, Rogers operates a significant media portfolio that includes national and regional television and radio assets, sports broadcasting properties and other content businesses.