CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) Short Interest Up 22.3% in March

CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,180,000 shares, a growth of 22.3% from the March 15th total of 2,600,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 297,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.7 days.

CGI Stock Performance

GIB traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $104.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 196,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,361. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $105.20 and its 200-day moving average is $109.89. CGI has a 52 week low of $92.85 and a 52 week high of $122.79. The firm has a market cap of $23.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.85.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41. CGI had a return on equity of 19.32% and a net margin of 11.72%. On average, equities analysts forecast that CGI will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

CGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.1039 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. CGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.41%.

Institutional Trading of CGI

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GIB. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of CGI by 182.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 476,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,808,000 after acquiring an additional 308,040 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of CGI during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in CGI by 1.8% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 31,280 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,596,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in CGI by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 188,280 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,554,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in CGI by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,758 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter. 66.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

CGI Company Profile

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.