GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Raises Dividend to $0.39 Per Share

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 31st, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of 0.3928 per share by the pharmaceutical company on Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38.

GSK has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 18.2% annually 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 $4.49 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.54 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.3%.

GSK Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of GSK stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $36.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,317,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,839,925. GSK has a 1-year low of $33.67 and a 1-year high of $45.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.08.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. GSK had a return on equity of 51.48% and a net margin of 12.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that GSK will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays upgraded GSK to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Guggenheim downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Argus raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and four 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 an average price target of $50.00.

Insider Activity at GSK

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 2,791,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,205,528. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 10.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.