Costco Wholesale Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.16 (NASDAQ:COST)

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 1.16 per share by the retailer on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%.

Costco Wholesale has raised its dividend by an average of 13.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 20 years. Costco Wholesale has a dividend payout ratio of 23.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Costco Wholesale to earn $19.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.6%.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $942.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $418.22 billion, a PE ratio of 55.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $950.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $903.04. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $675.96 and a 12-month high of $1,008.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.