National HealthCare Co. (NYSE:NHC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.61

National HealthCare Co. (NYSE:NHC) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of 0.61 per share on Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%.

National HealthCare has raised its dividend by an average of 4.7% annually over the last three years.

National HealthCare Trading Up 3.3 %

National HealthCare stock opened at $103.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. National HealthCare has a 12 month low of $87.03 and a 12 month high of $138.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.85. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29 and a beta of 0.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded National HealthCare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Health Corp National sold 28,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.71, for a total value of $3,200,595.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,056,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,147,805.36. This represents a 2.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Timothy J. Shelly sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.44, for a total transaction of $74,564.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

National HealthCare Company Profile

National HealthCare Corporation engages in the operation of services to skilled nursing facilities, assisted and independent living facilities, homecare and hospice agencies, and health hospitals. Its skilled nursing facilities offer licensed therapy services, nutrition services, social services, activities, and housekeeping and laundry services, as well as medical services prescribed by physicians; and rehabilitative services, such as physical, speech, respiratory, and occupational therapy for patients recovering from strokes, heart attacks, orthopedic conditions, neurological illnesses, or other illnesses, injuries, or disabilities.