National HealthCare Co. (NYSE:NHC) to Issue $0.61 Quarterly Dividend

National HealthCare Co. (NYSE:NHC) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.61 per share on Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%.

National HealthCare has raised its dividend by an average of 4.7% annually over the last three years.

National HealthCare Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NHC opened at $102.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. National HealthCare has a 12 month low of $87.03 and a 12 month high of $138.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $105.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.63. The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of National HealthCare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other National HealthCare news, VP Timothy J. Shelly sold 614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.44, for a total value of $74,564.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Health Corp National sold 28,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.71, for a total transaction of $3,200,595.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,056,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,147,805.36. This trade represents a 2.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

National HealthCare Company Profile

National HealthCare Corporation engages in the operation of services to skilled nursing facilities, assisted and independent living facilities, homecare and hospice agencies, and health hospitals. Its skilled nursing facilities offer licensed therapy services, nutrition services, social services, activities, and housekeeping and laundry services, as well as medical services prescribed by physicians; and rehabilitative services, such as physical, speech, respiratory, and occupational therapy for patients recovering from strokes, heart attacks, orthopedic conditions, neurological illnesses, or other illnesses, injuries, or disabilities.