Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Plans $1.35 Quarterly Dividend

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 6th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of 1.35 per share on Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th.

Philip Morris International has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 17 years. Philip Morris International has a dividend payout ratio of 69.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Philip Morris International to earn $7.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 68.4%.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of PM opened at $155.49 on Tuesday. Philip Morris International has a 1 year low of $87.82 and a 1 year high of $159.51. The stock has a market cap of $241.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $139.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.42.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Argus upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total value of $5,954,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 547,426 shares in the company, valued at $81,495,308.62. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,117,354.12. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Philip Morris International

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Philip Morris International stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 31.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,531 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,023 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.