Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) Raises Dividend to $1.48 Per Share

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) announced an annual dividend on Tuesday, March 26th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 1.478 per share on Thursday, June 6th. This represents a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Sanofi’s previous annual dividend of $1.38.

Sanofi has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Sanofi has a dividend payout ratio of 40.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sanofi to earn $4.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.3%.

Sanofi Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:SNY opened at $49.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.42. Sanofi has a fifty-two week low of $42.63 and a fifty-two week high of $57.82.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $11.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.02 billion. Sanofi had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 27.47%. Sell-side analysts expect that Sanofi will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SNY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Sanofi from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Sanofi in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. TheStreet downgraded shares of Sanofi from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Sanofi from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sanofi

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Sanofi by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,047,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $546,804,000 after acquiring an additional 249,619 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Sanofi by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,733,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,513,000 after buying an additional 1,251,199 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Sanofi by 2.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,077,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,697,000 after acquiring an additional 112,404 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sanofi by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,503,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,982,000 after buying an additional 305,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Sanofi by 276.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,362,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,468,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.04% of the company’s stock.

Sanofi Company Profile

Sanofi, a healthcare company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of therapeutic solutions in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Pharmaceuticals, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare segments. The company provides specialty care, such as DUPIXENT, neurology and immunology, rare diseases, oncology, and rare blood disorders; medicines for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; and established prescription products.