PLDT (NYSE:PHI) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

PLDT Inc. (NYSE:PHI) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 96,501 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 102% from the previous session’s volume of 47,685 shares.The stock last traded at $22.85 and had previously closed at $21.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised PLDT from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

PLDT Trading Up 3.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.68.

PLDT (NYSE:PHI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The technology company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter. PLDT had a return on equity of 22.11% and a net margin of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $960.62 million during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PLDT Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

PLDT Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.812 per share. This represents a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. PLDT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.66%.

Institutional Trading of PLDT

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PHI. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of PLDT by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,536,883 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,042,000 after purchasing an additional 254,110 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of PLDT by 1,189.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 138,992 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,079,000 after acquiring an additional 128,213 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of PLDT by 655.5% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 105,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 91,418 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new position in PLDT in the fourth quarter valued at about $906,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in PLDT by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 113,316 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,510,000 after purchasing an additional 32,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

PLDT Company Profile

PLDT Inc provides telecommunications and digital services in the Philippines. The company operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others. It offers cellular mobile, Internet broadband distribution, operations support, software development, and satellite information and messaging services; and sells Wi-Fi access equipment.