Q3 2017 EPS Estimates for NIC Inc. Cut by Analyst (NASDAQ:EGOV)

NIC Inc. (NASDAQ:EGOV) – Investment analysts at DA Davidson cut their Q3 2017 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of NIC in a report issued on Thursday. DA Davidson analyst P. Heckmann now expects that the software maker will post earnings of $0.18 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.19. DA Davidson currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson also issued estimates for NIC’s Q4 2017 earnings at $0.17 EPS, FY2017 earnings at $0.76 EPS, Q3 2018 earnings at $0.20 EPS and FY2018 earnings at $0.80 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Maxim Group set a $16.00 price objective on shares of NIC and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sidoti cut shares of NIC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of NIC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Imperial Capital raised shares of NIC from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, BidaskClub cut shares of NIC from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, June 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Shares of NIC (NASDAQ EGOV) opened at 16.40 on Friday. NIC has a one year low of $15.75 and a one year high of $25.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.67.

NIC (NASDAQ:EGOV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The software maker reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $85.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.57 million. NIC had a return on equity of 38.37% and a net margin of 17.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 1st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. NIC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.10%.

In other news, COO Robert W. Knapp sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.38, for a total transaction of $509,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 197,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,025,681.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace North America L.P. boosted its position in NIC by 489.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace North America L.P. now owns 360,572 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $6,851,000 after buying an additional 299,364 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management CA boosted its position in shares of NIC by 2.5% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management CA now owns 85,300 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after buying an additional 2,120 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA boosted its position in shares of NIC by 60.0% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 21,060 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 7,898 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of NIC by 9.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 121,946 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,311,000 after buying an additional 10,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of NIC by 53.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,351,186 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $25,604,000 after buying an additional 470,181 shares during the last quarter. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NIC Company Profile

NIC Inc is a provider of digital government services that help governments use technology to provide services to businesses and citizens. The Company operates through Outsourced Portals segment. The Company offers its services through two channels: primary outsourced portal businesses, and software and services businesses.