Fintel reports that Hestia Capital Partners has filed a 13D/A form with the SEC disclosing ownership of 14.63MM shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. (PBI). This represents 8.4% of the company.

In their previous filing dated January 24, 2023 they reported 12.57MM shares and 7.20% of the company, an increase in shares of 16.33% and an increase in total ownership of 1.20% (calculated as current – previous percent ownership).

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 18.08% Upside

As of March 1, 2023, the average one-year price target for Pitney Bowes is $5.43. The forecasts range from a low of $4.70 to a high of $6.30. The average price target represents an increase of 18.08% from its latest reported closing price of $4.60.

The projected annual revenue for Pitney Bowes is $3,638MM, an increase of 2.83%. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is $0.31.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 486 funds or institutions reporting positions in Pitney Bowes. This is a decrease of 13 owner(s) or 2.61% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to PBI is 0.06%, an increase of 3.51%. Total shares owned by institutions decreased in the last three months by 3.28% to 121,343K shares. The put/call ratio of PBI is 0.25, indicating a bullish outlook.

What are large shareholders doing?

IJR – iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF holds 7,895K shares representing 4.53% ownership of the company. No change in the last quarter.

Goldman Sachs Group holds 4,868K shares representing 2.79% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 5,111K shares, representing a decrease of 5.00%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in PBI by 50.39% over the last quarter.

VTSMX – Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 4,751K shares representing 2.73% ownership of the company. No change in the last quarter.

Charles Schwab Investment Management holds 4,392K shares representing 2.52% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 4,097K shares, representing an increase of 6.73%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in PBI by 57.35% over the last quarter.

NAESX – Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund Investor Shares holds 4,035K shares representing 2.32% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 3,970K shares, representing an increase of 1.61%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in PBI by 53.45% over the last quarter.

Pitney Bowes Declares $0.05 Dividend

On February 6, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share ($0.20 annualized). Shareholders of record as of February 17, 2023 will receive the payment on March 14, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.05 per share.

At the current share price of $4.60 / share, the stock’s dividend yield is 4.35%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 5.31%, the lowest has been 1.85%, and the highest has been 13.25%. The standard deviation of yields is 2.62 (n=237).

The current dividend yield is 0.37 standard deviations below the historical average.

Additionally, the company’s dividend payout ratio is 0.94. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company’s income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company’s income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend – not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company has not increased its dividend in the last three years.

Pitney Bowes Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

Pitney Bowes is a global technology company providing commerce solutions that power billions of transactions. Clients around the world, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500, rely on the accuracy and precision delivered by Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics, and APIs in the areas of ecommerce fulfillment, shipping and returns; cross-border ecommerce; office mailing and shipping; presort services; and financing. For 100 years Pitney Bowes has been innovating and delivering technologies that remove the complexity of getting commerce transactions precisely right.

This article originally appeared on Fintel

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