Shutterstock’s (SSTK) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $55.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on SSTK. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Shutterstock from $58.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Shutterstock from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Shutterstock Stock Performance

Shares of Shutterstock stock opened at $32.08 on Tuesday. Shutterstock has a 1 year low of $28.95 and a 1 year high of $54.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.06 and its 200 day moving average is $37.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $220.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $213.44 million. Shutterstock had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 4.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Shutterstock will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shutterstock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Shutterstock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.65%.

Institutional Trading of Shutterstock

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SSTK. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Shutterstock by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 150,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,893,000 after purchasing an additional 4,051 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Shutterstock by 14.2% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 97,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,459,000 after buying an additional 12,110 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Shutterstock by 137.4% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 19,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $901,000 after buying an additional 11,381 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in Shutterstock by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 20,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, Leuthold Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shutterstock by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 73,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,525 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.79% of the company’s stock.

About Shutterstock

Shutterstock, Inc provides platform to connect brands and businesses to high quality content in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers image services consisting of photographs, vectors, and illustrations, which is used in visual communications, such as websites, digital and print marketing materials, corporate communications, books, publications, and others; footage services, including video clips, filmed by industry experts and cinema grade video effects in HD and 4K formats that are integrated into websites, social media, marketing campaigns, and cinematic productions; and music services comprising music tracks and sound effects, which are used to complement images and footage.