CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) Short Interest Up 23.8% in March

CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB - Get Free Report) TSE: GIB.A was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, an increase of 23.8% from the February 28th total of 2,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 256,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 10.2 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company's shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of CGI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of CGI by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 10,534 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CGI by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 31,209 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,412,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of CGI by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,619 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CGI by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 25,425 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,779,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in CGI by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 3,158 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. 66.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on CGI from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of CGI from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $192.00 price target on shares of CGI in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $156.75.

CGI Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of GIB traded down $3.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $96.51. 428,254 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 188,079. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. CGI has a twelve month low of $95.75 and a twelve month high of $122.79. The stock has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.85.

CGI (NYSE:GIB - Get Free Report) TSE: GIB.A last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41. CGI had a return on equity of 19.32% and a net margin of 11.72%. On average, analysts anticipate that CGI will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

CGI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.1039 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CGI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.41%.

CGI Company Profile

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.