GSK plc (GSK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.39 on April 10th

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.3932 per share by the pharmaceutical company on Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

GSK has decreased its dividend by an average of 17.2% annually over the last three years. GSK has a dividend payout ratio of 34.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect GSK to earn $4.07 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.3%.

GSK Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of GSK stock opened at $36.38 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.64. GSK has a 1-year low of $31.72 and a 1-year high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 50.62%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that GSK will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on GSK shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of GSK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.25.

About GSK

GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, and manufacture of vaccines, and specialty and general medicines to prevent and treat disease in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Commercial Operations and Total R&D.