HP Inc. (HPQ) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.29 on January 2nd

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 26th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of 0.2894 per share by the computer maker on Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a positive change from HP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

HP has raised its dividend payment by an average of 13.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. HP has a dividend payout ratio of 30.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect HP to earn $3.59 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.10 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.6%.

HP Stock Performance

HPQ stock opened at $34.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.07. HP has a 1 year low of $27.42 and a 1 year high of $39.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.52.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. HP had a negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that HP will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the computer maker to purchase up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HPQ shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America cut shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of HP stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $7,013,373.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99.48. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HP Company Profile

HP Inc provides products, technologies, software, solutions, and services to individual consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses, and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health, and education sectors worldwide. It operates through Personal Systems and Printing segments. The Personal Systems segment offers commercial personal computers (PCs), consumer PCs, workstations, thin clients, commercial tablets and mobility devices, retail point-of-sale systems, displays and other related accessories, software, support, and services for the commercial and consumer markets.