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

CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a growth 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 shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GIB. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of CGI from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $192.00 price objective on shares of CGI in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on CGI from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CGI has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.75.

CGI Price Performance

NYSE:GIB opened at $102.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.96. CGI has a 52 week low of $96.75 and a 52 week high of $122.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $109.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.23.

CGI (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.41. CGI had a return on equity of 19.32% and a net margin of 11.72%. As a group, equities analysts expect that CGI will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CGI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.1039 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CGI’s payout ratio is 7.41%.

Institutional Trading of CGI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CGI in the 4th quarter worth about $286,970,000. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of CGI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,390,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of CGI by 23.6% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,513,733 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $519,072,000 after purchasing an additional 861,771 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in CGI by 1,190.6% in the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 845,916 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $92,438,000 after purchasing an additional 780,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in CGI by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,992,111 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $327,007,000 after purchasing an additional 678,431 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.68% of the company’s stock.

About CGI

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.