Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) to Issue $0.98 Quarterly Dividend

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 10th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.98 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%.

Paychex has increased its dividend by an average of 13.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Paychex has a dividend payout ratio of 69.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Paychex to earn $5.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 73.8%.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $139.06 on Friday. Paychex has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $50.07 billion, a PE ratio of 29.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.33.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Research analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.