The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.01

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 14th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of 1.0065 per share on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%.

Procter & Gamble has increased its dividend by an average of 5.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 69 years. Procter & Gamble has a payout ratio of 54.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Procter & Gamble to earn $7.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.03 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.5%.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock traded up $0.98 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $159.82. 5,982,143 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,743,784. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $376.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45. Procter & Gamble has a twelve month low of $146.28 and a twelve month high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. This represents a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,439 shares of company stock valued at $13,317,460. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PG. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays cut Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, December 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.75.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.