United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.63

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of 1.63 per share by the transportation company on Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th.

United Parcel Service has increased its dividend by an average of 17.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. United Parcel Service has a dividend payout ratio of 74.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect United Parcel Service to earn $8.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 74.5%.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

Shares of UPS opened at $134.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $114.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $132.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.67. United Parcel Service has a 52-week low of $123.12 and a 52-week high of $163.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.10 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 37.38%. United Parcel Service’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. Analysts forecast that United Parcel Service will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on UPS. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of United Parcel Service in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Argus raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $132.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.52.

About United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service, Inc, a package delivery company, provides transportation and delivery, distribution, contract logistics, ocean freight, airfreight, customs brokerage, and insurance services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of express letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States.