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

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 6th, RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. 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 raised its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. Philip Morris International has a dividend payout ratio of 69.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $151.05 on Friday. Philip Morris International has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $159.51. The company has a market cap of $234.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $129.00.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Philip Morris International will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total transaction of $1,486,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 106,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,795,295.48. This represents a 8.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total value of $5,954,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 547,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,495,308.62. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Philip Morris International stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 31.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,531 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,023 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.56.

About Philip Morris International

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.