Maximus (NYSE:MMS) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $66.36 and last traded at $68.14, with a volume of 643504 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James raised Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Maximus Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65 and a beta of 0.72.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.22. Maximus had a return on equity of 21.95% and a net margin of 5.28%. On average, equities analysts expect that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Maximus

In other news, Director Raymond B. Ruddy purchased 3,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $71.46 per share, with a total value of $249,395.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 112,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,040,679.20. This represents a 3.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michelle F. Link sold 2,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.83, for a total value of $163,016.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,841.61. The trade was a 25.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 7,063 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maximus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMS. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Maximus by 7.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,386 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after buying an additional 1,181 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Maximus during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Maximus by 234.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,310 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Maximus by 1.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 705,400 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $65,715,000 after purchasing an additional 8,667 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Maximus by 277.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 878,894 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $81,878,000 after purchasing an additional 645,760 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Maximus

Maximus, Inc operates as a provider of government services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Federal Services, U.S. Services, and Outside the U.S. The U.S. Services segment offers program eligibility support and enrollment; centralized multilingual customer contact centers, multichannel, and digital self-service options for enrollment; application assistance and independent health plan choice counseling; beneficiary outreach, education, eligibility, enrollment, and redeterminations; and person-centered independent disability, long-term sick, and other health assessments.