Pearson, PLC (NYSE:PSO) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Pearson, PLC (NYSE:PSO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company.

Several brokerages recently commented on PSO. Citigroup downgraded shares of Pearson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Kepler Capital Markets cut shares of Pearson from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pearson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Pearson in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Pearson from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th.

Pearson Price Performance

PSO opened at $16.41 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $16.22 and its 200-day moving average is $15.46. Pearson has a 1-year low of $12.02 and a 1-year high of $17.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.00.

Pearson Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $0.1103 dividend. This is a drop from Pearson’s previous dividend of $0.2346. This represents a yield of 137.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th.

Institutional Trading of Pearson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pearson by 26.4% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 224,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,572,000 after buying an additional 47,023 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Pearson by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 40,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 1,334 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in Pearson by 44.9% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC grew its holdings in Pearson by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 28,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 3,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Pearson by 44.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727 shares during the period. 2.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Pearson

Pearson plc is a global learning and education company headquartered in London, England. Through its assessment, qualifications, learning content and digital services businesses, Pearson supports students, educators, institutions, employers and governments throughout the education and workforce-development lifecycle.

The company provides academic and professional assessments, English-language testing, vocational and higher-education qualifications, textbooks, digital courseware and online learning platforms.