Magic Software Enterprises (NASDAQ:MGIC) Hits New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ:MGIC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $14.24 and last traded at $14.20, with a volume of 152312 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $13.88.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.327 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4.6%. This is a positive change from Magic Software Enterprises’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. Magic Software Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 86.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MGIC. William Blair downgraded Magic Software Enterprises from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Magic Software Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Magic Software Enterprises from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Magic Software Enterprises Trading Up 2.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.91. The firm has a market cap of $697.21 million, a PE ratio of 20.29 and a beta of 1.11.

Magic Software Enterprises (NASDAQ:MGIC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The software maker reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $142.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $137.00 million. Magic Software Enterprises had a net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 15.42%. Analysts expect that Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Magic Software Enterprises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Magic Software Enterprises by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,000 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Magic Software Enterprises by 4,274.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,818 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 5,685 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Magic Software Enterprises in the 3rd quarter valued at about $115,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Magic Software Enterprises in the 4th quarter valued at about $138,000. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Magic Software Enterprises in the 4th quarter valued at about $145,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.70% of the company’s stock.

About Magic Software Enterprises

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. provides proprietary application development, vertical software solutions, business process integration, information technologies (IT) outsourcing software services, and cloud-based services in Israel and internationally. Its Software Services segment develops, markets, sells, and supports application platform, software applications, and business and process integration solutions and related services.