Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) to Issue $0.21 Quarterly Dividend

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 26th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.21 per share on Saturday, June 15th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st.

Premier has increased its dividend by an average of 30.3% per year over the last three years. Premier has a dividend payout ratio of 35.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Premier to earn $2.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.8%.

Premier Stock Up 0.7 %

PINC traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.96. 1,195,560 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,103,782. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Premier has a fifty-two week low of $18.89 and a fifty-two week high of $33.58. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.18.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $334.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $338.55 million. Premier had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 12.71%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Premier will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Premier in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink began coverage on Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.15.

About Premier

Premier, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a healthcare improvement company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Supply Chain Services and Performance Services. The Supply Chain Services segment offers its members with an access to a range of products and services, including medical and surgical products, pharmaceuticals, laboratory supplies, capital equipment, information technology, facilities and construction, and food and nutritional products, as well as purchased services, such as clinical engineering and workforce solutions.