Premier, Inc. (PINC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.21 on March 15th

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a dividend of 0.21 per share on Saturday, March 15th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th.

Premier has increased its dividend by an average of 2.5% annually over the last three years. Premier has a payout ratio of 63.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Premier to earn $1.19 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 70.6%.

Premier Price Performance

PINC stock opened at $22.39 on Friday. Premier has a 12 month low of $17.95 and a 12 month high of $23.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.77.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $248.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.85 million. Premier had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%. Premier’s revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Premier will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PINC has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.36.

Insider Activity at Premier

In related news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.88, for a total value of $437,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,444,149.16. This trade represents a 15.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $53,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $442,708.56. The trade was a 10.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,425 shares of company stock valued at $1,320,242. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Premier Company Profile

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.