Quad Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quad Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Quad Graphics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Benchmark boosted their target price on Quad Graphics from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Quad Graphics from $9.80 to $13.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Quad Graphics from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quad Graphics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.00.

Quad Graphics Stock Performance

Shares of Quad Graphics stock opened at $7.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. Quad Graphics has a 52 week low of $5.12 and a 52 week high of $11.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $384.87 million, a P/E ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 1.12.

Quad Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $586.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $583.27 million. Quad Graphics had a net margin of 1.12% and a return on equity of 47.06%. Research analysts forecast that Quad Graphics will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quad Graphics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. Quad Graphics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quad Graphics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Quad Graphics by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,135,439 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,506,000 after acquiring an additional 16,815 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Quad Graphics by 2.0% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 460,452 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,044,000 after purchasing an additional 9,174 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Quad Graphics in the second quarter valued at about $3,506,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Quad Graphics by 60.1% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 103,621 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 38,917 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Quad Graphics by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 95,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.52% of the company’s stock.

About Quad Graphics

Quad (NYSE: QUAD), formerly Quad/Graphics, is a marketing experience company that helps organizations plan, create, produce and distribute marketing communications. Its services span creative and content development, data and analytics, media planning and buying, marketing management, and production.

The company also provides commercial printing, packaging, direct mail, in-store marketing materials and other physical communications. By combining these capabilities with digital and technology services, Quad supports integrated marketing programs designed to connect brands with consumers across print, digital and other channels.

Quad was founded in 1971 by Harry V.