PLDT (NYSE:PHI) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of PLDT (NYSE:PHI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

PLDT Stock Performance

Shares of PHI stock opened at $23.36 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $22.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.85. PLDT has a 52 week low of $20.29 and a 52 week high of $29.05. The company has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.76.

PLDT (NYSE:PHI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The technology company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $960.62 million during the quarter. PLDT had a return on equity of 22.11% and a net margin of 12.34%. As a group, analysts anticipate that PLDT will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

PLDT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.812 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a yield of 5.4%. PLDT’s payout ratio is 45.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PLDT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of PLDT by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,536,883 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,042,000 after buying an additional 254,110 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of PLDT in the first quarter valued at $5,891,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of PLDT by 1,189.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 138,992 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,079,000 after buying an additional 128,213 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of PLDT by 14.8% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 120,974 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,646,000 after buying an additional 15,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PLDT by 9.5% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 120,757 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after buying an additional 10,505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

PLDT Company Profile

PLDT Inc provides telecommunications and digital services in the Philippines. The company operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others. It offers cellular mobile, Internet broadband distribution, operations support, software development, and satellite information and messaging services; and sells Wi-Fi access equipment.