Northern Trust Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.75 (NASDAQ:NTRS)

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.75 per share by the asset manager on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Northern Trust has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.3% per year over the last three years. Northern Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 36.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Northern Trust to earn $7.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.3%.

Northern Trust Stock Up 1.3 %

Northern Trust stock opened at $110.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. Northern Trust has a 52-week low of $76.67 and a 52-week high of $111.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $105.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.40.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 12.75%. Equities analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Northern Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Northern Trust from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.75.

Insider Activity at Northern Trust

In related news, Vice Chairman Steven L. Fradkin sold 9,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 47,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,305,467. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 16,153 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.18, for a total value of $1,698,972.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,476.46. This represents a 78.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 30,253 shares of company stock valued at $3,238,073. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.