Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) Given “Hold” Rating at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group restated their hold rating on shares of Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $9.15 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $11.00.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on DNB. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Dun & Bradstreet from $12.80 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dun & Bradstreet has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.86.

Dun & Bradstreet Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DNB opened at $8.94 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $10.03 and its 200 day moving average is $11.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Dun & Bradstreet has a 1 year low of $7.78 and a 1 year high of $12.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -148.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.19.

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $631.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $658.04 million. Dun & Bradstreet had a negative net margin of 1.20% and a positive return on equity of 11.29%. On average, research analysts predict that Dun & Bradstreet will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dun & Bradstreet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Dun & Bradstreet’s dividend payout ratio is currently -333.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dun & Bradstreet

In other Dun & Bradstreet news, Chairman William P. Foley II sold 2,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.99, for a total transaction of $22,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 8,109,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,905,699.56. This represents a 23.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 10.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dun & Bradstreet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Amundi raised its position in Dun & Bradstreet by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 5,158 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Dun & Bradstreet in the 4th quarter worth about $96,000. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Dun & Bradstreet in the third quarter worth approximately $117,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dun & Bradstreet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $127,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Dun & Bradstreet in the 3rd quarter valued at $120,000. 86.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Dun & Bradstreet

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc engages in providing business decisioning data and analytics solutions. The firm is involved in providing information with its solutions to support its clients with critical business operations. It offers end-to-end solutions to clients in the small business, finance, sales & marketing, third party risk & compliance, and public sectors.