Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) Declares $0.88 Quarterly Dividend

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.88 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%.

Broadridge Financial Solutions has increased its dividend by an average of 11.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 17 years. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a payout ratio of 37.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Broadridge Financial Solutions to earn $9.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.6%.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE BR traded up $1.77 on Tuesday, hitting $240.42. 93,217 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 475,892. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 1-year low of $188.30 and a 1-year high of $241.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $231.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 37.62 and a beta of 1.08.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.24. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 44.40%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In other news, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 15,710 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.32, for a total transaction of $3,618,327.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,797,466.72. This trade represents a 56.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maura A. Markus sold 3,880 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.02, for a total transaction of $880,837.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,788 shares in the company, valued at $6,308,431.76. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,532 shares of company stock worth $12,264,846. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on BR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $231.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com cut Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $239.17.

About Broadridge Financial Solutions

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions.