Short Interest in Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RCI) Drops By 26.8%

Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,620,000 shares, a drop of 26.8% from the February 29th total of 6,310,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 434,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rogers Communications by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 16,949 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Rogers Communications by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,289 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Rogers Communications by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 7,523 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Rogers Communications by 62.8% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cigna Investments Inc. New increased its stake in shares of Rogers Communications by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 6,851 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.49% of the company’s stock.

Rogers Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:RCI opened at $41.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Rogers Communications has a one year low of $36.55 and a one year high of $50.00. The company has a market cap of $21.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.60.

Rogers Communications (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.99 billion. Rogers Communications had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 22.17%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Rogers Communications will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Rogers Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a $0.3742 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. This is an increase from Rogers Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Rogers Communications’s payout ratio is 122.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rogers Communications from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Rogers Communications from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

About Rogers Communications

Rogers Communications Inc operates as a communications and media company in North America. 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 services; and postpaid and prepaid services under the Rogers, Fido, and chatr brands.