Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on SSTK. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Shutterstock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Shutterstock from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Shutterstock Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SSTK opened at $32.70 on Tuesday. Shutterstock has a fifty-two week low of $31.30 and a fifty-two week high of $54.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.01. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 1.09.

Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) last released 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 business had revenue of $220.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $213.44 million. Shutterstock had a return on equity of 20.45% and a net margin of 5.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Shutterstock will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Shutterstock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. Shutterstock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shutterstock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Shutterstock by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,926,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $134,048,000 after buying an additional 47,929 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Shutterstock by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,793,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $69,425,000 after purchasing an additional 215,539 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Shutterstock by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,793,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $82,173,000 after purchasing an additional 422,942 shares during the last quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Shutterstock by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. now owns 1,214,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,647,000 after purchasing an additional 163,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shutterstock by 22.8% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,085,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,010,000 after buying an additional 201,391 shares in the last quarter. 82.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.