Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 20th

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 6th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of 1.35 per share on Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th.

Philip Morris International has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. Philip Morris International has a payout ratio of 69.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Philip Morris International to earn $7.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 68.4%.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 2.4 %

PM stock opened at $155.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $241.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.42. Philip Morris International has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. Equities analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total value of $6,058,245.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 561,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,674,681.94. This represents a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,584,994.24. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Philip Morris International stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,531 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

About Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.