Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RCI) Short Interest Up 27.6% in February

Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 9,560,000 shares, a growth of 27.6% from the February 13th total of 7,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,170,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.2 days. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rogers Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 23,563 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rogers Communications by 7.9% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 7,484 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rogers Communications by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,194 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rogers Communications by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,943 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Rogers Communications by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 136,766 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $5,550,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. 45.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RCI. Bank of America cut Rogers Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Rogers Communications in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Rogers Communications in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Rogers Communications Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:RCI opened at $28.63 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $28.21 and its 200 day moving average is $33.56. Rogers Communications has a 1 year low of $26.57 and a 1 year high of $42.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Rogers Communications (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.07. Rogers Communications had a return on equity of 25.19% and a net margin of 8.40%. On average, research analysts predict that Rogers Communications will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rogers Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.347 dividend. This represents a $1.39 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Rogers Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.48%.

Rogers Communications Company Profile

Rogers Communications Inc operates as a communications and media company in Canada. It operates through three segments: Wireless, Cable, and Media. The company offers mobile Internet access, wireless voice and enhanced voice, device financing, device protection, global voice and data roaming, wireless home phone, bridging landline, machine-to-machine and Internet of Things solutions, and advanced wireless solutions for businesses, as well as device shipping and express pickup services; and postpaid and prepaid services under the Rogers, Fido, and chatr brands.