Quad/Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) Raised to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quad/Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Quad/Graphics in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $10.30 target price on shares of Quad/Graphics in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Quad/Graphics Price Performance

Shares of QUAD opened at $5.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $287.65 million, a PE ratio of -5.04 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.35, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.85. Quad/Graphics has a fifty-two week low of $4.06 and a fifty-two week high of $9.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.36.

Quad/Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $708.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $726.70 million. Quad/Graphics had a positive return on equity of 58.44% and a negative net margin of 1.90%. Analysts anticipate that Quad/Graphics will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quad/Graphics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Quad/Graphics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Quad/Graphics’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in QUAD. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Quad/Graphics by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Quad/Graphics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in Quad/Graphics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Quad/Graphics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Quad/Graphics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Institutional investors own 39.52% of the company’s stock.

About Quad/Graphics

Quad/Graphics, Inc provides marketing solutions worldwide. The company operates through United States Print and Related Services, and International segments. It offers printing services, such as retail inserts, publications, catalogs, special interest publications, journals, direct mail, directories, in-store marketing and promotion, packaging, newspapers, custom print products, and other commercial and specialty printed products; and paper procurement services.