United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.64

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of 1.64 per share by the transportation company on Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.86%. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63.

United Parcel Service has increased its dividend payment by an average of 16.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. United Parcel Service has a dividend payout ratio of 65.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect United Parcel Service to earn $9.34 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 69.8%.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

Shares of UPS stock opened at $111.95 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.98. United Parcel Service has a 1-year low of $109.40 and a 1-year high of $158.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.69.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 6.35%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that United Parcel Service will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UPS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on United Parcel Service from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $160.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.73.

Insider Transactions at United Parcel Service

In related news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.57, for a total transaction of $1,015,025.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 45,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,249,229.86. The trade was a 13.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

United Parcel Service, Inc, a package delivery company, provides transportation and delivery, distribution, contract logistics, ocean freight, airfreight, customs brokerage, and insurance services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of express letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States.