GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.39 Per Share

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of 0.3932 per share by the pharmaceutical company on Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

GSK has decreased its dividend by an average of 17.2% per year over the last three years. GSK has a payout ratio of 34.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect GSK to earn $4.07 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.3%.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK traded down $1.33 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.38. 7,166,526 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,646,120. The firm has a market cap of $75.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. GSK has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $45.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.60.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 50.62% and a net margin of 7.97%. Research analysts expect that GSK will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of GSK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.25.

About GSK

GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, and manufacture of vaccines, and specialty and general medicines to prevent and treat disease in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Commercial Operations and Total R&D.