Mastercard Incorporated Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.76 (NYSE:MA)

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 10th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.76 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%.

Mastercard has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Mastercard has a payout ratio of 16.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Mastercard to earn $18.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.3%.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5 %

Mastercard stock opened at $565.51 on Tuesday. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $576.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $531.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $506.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $519.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.71, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price objective (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.