GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.39

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given 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 a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

GSK has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 17.2% annually over the last three years. GSK has a payout ratio of 34.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:GSK traded down $1.33 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,166,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,648,455. GSK has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $45.92. The firm has a market cap of $75.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.17 and a 200-day moving average of $37.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts expect that GSK will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GSK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Guggenheim cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded GSK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.