Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Announces Dividend Increase – $1.44 Per Share

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of 1.44 per share by the asset manager on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86.

Blackstone has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 1.1% per year over the last three years. Blackstone has a payout ratio of 50.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Blackstone to earn $5.86 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.7%.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $176.92. The stock had a trading volume of 3,005,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,061,557. The company’s 50-day moving average is $180.59 and its 200 day moving average is $161.95. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $127.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. On average, equities analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on BX shares. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America increased their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.