Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD)

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 104.70% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ziff Davis from $52.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on Ziff Davis from $58.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price objective on Ziff Davis from $78.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

Ziff Davis Price Performance

Shares of ZD opened at $46.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 38.36 and a beta of 1.29. Ziff Davis has a 1-year low of $37.76 and a 1-year high of $70.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.34.

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The technology company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.08). Ziff Davis had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 5.86%. The firm had revenue of $320.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $332.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ziff Davis will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ziff Davis during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,257,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Ziff Davis by 63.6% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 296,572 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $18,696,000 after buying an additional 115,258 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Ziff Davis by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,693,227 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $113,771,000 after acquiring an additional 136,220 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ziff Davis by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Ziff Davis by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 113,196 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,231,000 after acquiring an additional 8,625 shares during the last quarter. 99.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ziff Davis Company Profile

Ziff Davis, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media and internet company in the United States and internationally. The company offers PCMag, an online resource for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news, buying guides, and research papers; Mashable for publishing technology and culture content; Spiceworks Ziff Davis provides digital content of IT products and services; retailMeNot, a savings destination platform; Offers.com, a coupon and deals website; and event-based properties, including BlackFriday.com, TheBlackFriday.com, BestBlackFriday.com, and DealsofAmerica.com.