GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.38

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of 0.3843 per share by the pharmaceutical company on Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This is an increase 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 33.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect GSK to earn $4.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.3%.

GSK Price Performance

NYSE GSK traded up $0.87 on Thursday, reaching $39.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,507,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,529,874. GSK has a 52 week low of $33.67 and a 52 week high of $45.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.40. The firm has a market cap of $82.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 51.54%. The company had revenue of $9.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that GSK will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on GSK in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Berenberg Bank raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GSK currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

GSK Company Profile

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.