Short Interest in CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) Rises By 23.8%

CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, an increase of 23.8% from the February 28th total of 2,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 256,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.2 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on CGI from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $192.00 price objective on shares of CGI in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of CGI from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.75.

CGI Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE GIB traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $102.04. 480,274 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 185,618. The company’s fifty day moving average is $109.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.31. CGI has a fifty-two week low of $96.75 and a fifty-two week high of $122.79. The stock has a market cap 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 (NYSE:GIB) (TSE:GIB.A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.41. CGI had a return on equity of 19.32% and a net margin of 11.72%. On average, analysts expect that CGI will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

CGI Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of CGI

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of CGI by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 102,080 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,564 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in CGI during the 4th quarter valued at $221,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in CGI by 164.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 116,604 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,752,000 after purchasing an additional 72,452 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its position in CGI by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 5,315 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position 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 worth $92,438,000 after purchasing an additional 780,370 shares during the last quarter. 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.