Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.77

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 21st,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of 1.77 per share by the basic materials company on Monday, February 10th. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%.

Air Products and Chemicals has increased its dividend by an average of 9.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 49 years. Air Products and Chemicals has a payout ratio of 54.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Air Products and Chemicals to earn $14.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 50.0%.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

APD opened at $327.85 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $308.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.76. Air Products and Chemicals has a 52-week low of $212.24 and a 52-week high of $332.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $308.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Redburn Atlantic raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $336.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.53.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.