Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) Increases Dividend to $0.23 Per Share

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.225 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, April 7th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Alexander & Baldwin’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Alexander & Baldwin has raised its dividend by an average of 10.0% per year over the last three years. Alexander & Baldwin has a payout ratio of 130.4% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Alexander & Baldwin to earn $1.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 80.4%.

Alexander & Baldwin Stock Performance

Shares of ALEX opened at $17.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $17.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.65. Alexander & Baldwin has a 52-week low of $15.53 and a 52-week high of $20.30.

Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.15. Alexander & Baldwin had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 5.93%. Analysts forecast that Alexander & Baldwin will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALEX. StockNews.com raised Alexander & Baldwin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alexander & Baldwin in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.50.

About Alexander & Baldwin

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc engages in the real estate business. It operates through the Commercial Real Estate and Land Operations segments. The Commercial Real Estate segment includes investments and acquisitions, construction and development, and in-house leasing and property management. The Land Operations segment consists of legacy landholdings, assets, and liabilities subject to the company’s simplification and monetization effort.