The Procter & Gamble Company (PG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.06 on May 15th

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 8th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of 1.0568 per share on Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This is a 5.0% increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01.

Procter & Gamble has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 70 consecutive years. Procter & Gamble has a payout ratio of 57.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Procter & Gamble to earn $7.34 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.23 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.6%.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE PG opened at $170.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $400.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.16, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. Procter & Gamble has a 12 month low of $153.52 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Procter & Gamble stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 51.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,068 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,617 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $6,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.50.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.