Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

STGW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Stagwell from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Stagwell from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Stagwell from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Stagwell from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their price target on shares of Stagwell from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.17.

Stagwell Stock Performance

STGW opened at $8.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.17 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.43. Stagwell has a 1-year low of $4.28 and a 1-year high of $9.55.

Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $786.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $754.56 million. Stagwell had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 0.53%.Stagwell’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. Stagwell has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.030-1.170 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Stagwell will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Frank Lanuto sold 62,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $524,520.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 491,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,162,125.42. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stagwell

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Stagwell by 104.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 371,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 189,751 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Stagwell in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,907,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Stagwell by 53.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 673,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,237,000 after buying an additional 233,489 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stagwell during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,862,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stagwell during the first quarter valued at approximately $846,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.61% of the company’s stock.

About Stagwell

Stagwell Inc (NASDAQ: STGW) is a global marketing and communications network that provides services to businesses, government organizations and other institutions. The company combines creative, media, digital transformation, public relations, strategic consulting, consumer insights and data-driven marketing capabilities through a network of specialized agencies.

Its services include brand strategy and development, advertising, media planning and buying, public affairs, corporate communications, public relations, social media, technology consulting, website and product design, customer experience and analytics.