Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.07 Per Share

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 19th will be given a dividend of 0.07 per share on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 19th. This is a positive change from Bentley Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06.

Bentley Systems has raised its dividend by an average of 26.0% per year over the last three years. Bentley Systems has a payout ratio of 17.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Bentley Systems to earn $1.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.8%.

Bentley Systems Stock Performance

BSY traded down $0.58 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.04. 2,379,944 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,220,764. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.36. Bentley Systems has a 1 year low of $43.75 and a 1 year high of $57.19.

Insider Activity at Bentley Systems

In related news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 1,152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.33, for a total transaction of $53,372.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,703,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $773,890,575.08. This trade represents a 0.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 21.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BSY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Bentley Systems from $65.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Bentley Systems from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer downgraded Bentley Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.29.

About Bentley Systems

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides infrastructure engineering software solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers open modeling engineering applications, such as MicroStation, OpenBridge, OpenBuildings, OpenCities, OpenComms, OpenFlows, OpenPlant, OpenRail, OpenRoads, OpenSite, OpenTower, OpenTunnel, OpenUtilities, and OpenWindowPower; and open simulation engineering applications, including ADINA, AutoPIPE, CUBE, DYNAMEQ, EMME, LEGION, Power Line Systems, RAM, SACS, SPIDA, and STAAD; and geoprofessional applications for modeling and simulation of near and deep subsurface conditions, including AGS, Central, GeoStudio, Imago, Leapfrog, MX Deposit, Oasis montaj, OpenGround, and PLAXIS.