IDT (NYSE:IDT) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

IDT Co. (NYSE:IDT)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $46.19, but opened at $47.32. IDT shares last traded at $49.77, with a volume of 26,711 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded IDT from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st.

IDT Trading Up 10.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.93.

IDT (NYSE:IDT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. IDT had a return on equity of 22.18% and a net margin of 6.10%. The business had revenue of $303.35 million during the quarter.

IDT Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 24th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a yield of 0.42%. IDT’s payout ratio is presently 6.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nadine Shea sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.74, for a total transaction of $53,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,775 shares in the company, valued at $256,608.50. This trade represents a 17.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO David Wartell sold 17,116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total value of $806,334.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of IDT in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of IDT in the 4th quarter valued at about $676,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IDT by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 29,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 8,118 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of IDT by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 21,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of IDT by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 47,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,262,000 after acquiring an additional 11,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.34% of the company’s stock.

IDT Company Profile

IDT Corporation provides communications and payment services in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through Fintech, National Retail Solutions, net2phone, and Traditional Communications segments. The company operates point of sale, a terminal-based platform which provides independent retailers store management software, electronic payment processing, and other ancillary merchant services; and provides marketers with digital out-of-home advertising and transaction data.