CGI (NYSE:GIB) Sets New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB - Get Free Report) TSE: GIB.A shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $120.69 and last traded at $120.84, with a volume of 102722 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $114.54.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.1039 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. CGI's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of CGI in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of CGI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of CGI from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of CGI from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of CGI from a "neutral" rating to an "outperformer" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $153.25.

CGI Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $26.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $111.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.47.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CGI

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CGI by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 998,470 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $115,844,000 after purchasing an additional 79,362 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of CGI by 182.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 476,758 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,808,000 after acquiring an additional 308,040 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CGI by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 560,159 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,518,000 after acquiring an additional 21,427 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CGI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $825,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of CGI by 68.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,368,822 shares of the technology company's stock worth $157,485,000 after acquiring an additional 555,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.68% of the company's stock.

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.