Diageo plc (DGE) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 20th

Diageo plc (LON:DGE) announced a dividend on Tuesday, March 18th, Upcoming Dividends.Co.Uk reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of GBX 20.75 ($0.27) per share on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a 3,194.7% increase from Diageo’s previous dividend of $0.63. The official announcement can be seen at this link.

Diageo Stock Performance

Shares of DGE stock traded down GBX 2 ($0.03) during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting GBX 2,078.50 ($27.02). The company had a trading volume of 2,147,000,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,667,500. The company has a market cap of £46.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 234.57, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Diageo has a 12 month low of GBX 2,050 ($26.65) and a 12 month high of GBX 2,955.50 ($38.42). The stock’s fifty day moving average is GBX 2,273.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DGE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 2,500 ($32.50) price target on shares of Diageo in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised Diageo to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from GBX 2,300 ($29.90) to GBX 2,920 ($37.96) in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Diageo to a “buy” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($36.40) price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Diageo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of GBX 2,876.67 ($37.40).

Insider Activity at Diageo

In other news, insider Nik Jhangiani sold 65,676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,165 ($28.15), for a total value of £1,421,885.40 ($1,848,524.96). Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 19 shares of company stock worth $43,455. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Diageo Company Profile

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. It offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavoured malt beverages. The company also provides Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as ready to drink and non-alcoholic products.