Short Interest in Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DNB) Drops By 28.9%

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DNB) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,790,000 shares, a decline of 28.9% from the January 31st total of 23,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days. Currently, 5.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Dun & Bradstreet in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Dun & Bradstreet from $12.80 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Dun & Bradstreet from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dun & Bradstreet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Azora Capital LP raised its holdings in Dun & Bradstreet by 119.8% in the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 7,973,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $91,773,000 after acquiring an additional 4,346,033 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Dun & Bradstreet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,016,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Dun & Bradstreet by 5.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 56,497,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $650,292,000 after buying an additional 3,144,458 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Dun & Bradstreet during the fourth quarter worth $26,817,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Dun & Bradstreet by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,465,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $131,963,000 after buying an additional 1,733,220 shares in the last quarter. 86.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dun & Bradstreet Price Performance

NYSE:DNB traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $8.99. 1,317,831 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,039,594. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $11.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.66. Dun & Bradstreet has a 52-week low of $8.77 and a 52-week high of $12.94. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -149.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.05). Dun & Bradstreet had a positive return on equity of 11.29% and a negative net margin of 1.20%. The firm had revenue of $631.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $658.04 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Dun & Bradstreet will post 0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dun & Bradstreet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Dun & Bradstreet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -333.33%.

Dun & Bradstreet Company Profile

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc engages in providing business decisioning data and analytics solutions. The firm is involved in providing information with its solutions to support its clients with critical business operations. It offers end-to-end solutions to clients in the small business, finance, sales & marketing, third party risk & compliance, and public sectors.