AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Announces Semi-annual Dividend of $1.03

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) announced a semi-annual dividend on Friday, February 7th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of 1.03 per share on Monday, March 24th. This represents a dividend yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49.

AstraZeneca has increased its dividend by an average of 2.0% annually over the last three years. AstraZeneca has a payout ratio of 19.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect AstraZeneca to earn $4.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.5%.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AstraZeneca stock traded down $0.48 on Friday, hitting $71.89. 5,187,909 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,131,700. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. AstraZeneca has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $87.68. The company has a market cap of $222.92 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 30.01%. Equities research analysts predict that AstraZeneca will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company’s marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology.