Magic Software Enterprises (NASDAQ:MGIC) Hits New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ:MGIC) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $14.24 and last traded at $14.20, with a volume of 152312 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $13.88.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.327 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This is a positive change from Magic Software Enterprises’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.24. This represents a dividend yield of 4.6%. Magic Software Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 86.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MGIC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Magic Software Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. William Blair lowered Magic Software Enterprises from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Magic Software Enterprises from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Magic Software Enterprises Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company has a market capitalization of $689.35 million, a P/E ratio of 20.06 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $12.78 and a 200-day moving average of $11.95.

Magic Software Enterprises (NASDAQ:MGIC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The software maker reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.01). Magic Software Enterprises had a net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $142.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $137.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Magic Software Enterprises

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Magic Software Enterprises by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,000 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Magic Software Enterprises by 4,274.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,818 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 5,685 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Magic Software Enterprises during the third quarter worth about $115,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Magic Software Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth about $138,000. Finally, Man Group plc purchased a new position in Magic Software Enterprises during the fourth quarter worth about $145,000. 24.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Magic Software Enterprises Company Profile

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. provides proprietary application development, vertical software solutions, business process integration, information technologies (IT) outsourcing software services, and cloud-based services in Israel and internationally. Its Software Services segment develops, markets, sells, and supports application platform, software applications, and business and process integration solutions and related services.