Dun & Bradstreet Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:DNB)

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DNB) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 5,825 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 488% compared to the typical daily volume of 991 call options.

Dun & Bradstreet Stock Performance

DNB stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $8.99. 43,583,030 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,486,809. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.29. Dun & Bradstreet has a one year low of $7.78 and a one year high of $12.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -149.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.19.

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $631.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $658.04 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Dun & Bradstreet will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Dun & Bradstreet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Dun & Bradstreet’s dividend payout ratio is currently -333.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dun & Bradstreet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Azora Capital LP raised its stake in Dun & Bradstreet by 119.8% in the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 7,973,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $91,773,000 after purchasing an additional 4,346,033 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Dun & Bradstreet in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,016,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Dun & Bradstreet in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,817,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Dun & Bradstreet by 17.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,465,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $131,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Contour Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Dun & Bradstreet during the fourth quarter worth about $17,018,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.