Magic Software Enterprises (NASDAQ:MGIC) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ:MGIC) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $27.16 and last traded at $27.1840, with a volume of 3743 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MGIC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Magic Software Enterprises in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Magic Software Enterprises from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Magic Software Enterprises currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Magic Software Enterprises Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Magic Software Enterprises (NASDAQ:MGIC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The software maker reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.04). Magic Software Enterprises had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $161.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $154.80 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Magic Software Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.151 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Magic Software Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 72.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Magic Software Enterprises

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Magic Software Enterprises in the third quarter valued at about $2,358,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Magic Software Enterprises by 133.2% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 126,278 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,415,000 after buying an additional 72,117 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in Magic Software Enterprises in the third quarter valued at about $1,434,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Magic Software Enterprises by 145.3% during the 3rd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 14,589 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 46,789 shares during the period. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in shares of Magic Software Enterprises by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 231,768 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,719,000 after acquiring an additional 42,441 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.70% of the company’s stock.

Magic Software Enterprises Company Profile

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.