Diageo plc (LON:DGE) Plans Dividend Increase – GBX 20.75 Per Share

Diageo plc (LON:DGE) declared a dividend on Tuesday, March 18th, Upcoming Dividends.Co.Uk reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of GBX 20.75 ($0.27) per share on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a 3,194.7% increase from Diageo’s previous dividend of $0.63. The official announcement can be viewed at this link.

Diageo Stock Performance

DGE traded down GBX 2 ($0.03) during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching GBX 2,078.50 ($27.02). 2,147,000,000 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 43,667,500. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 234.57, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of £46.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of GBX 2,273.98. Diageo has a 1 year low of GBX 2,050 ($26.65) and a 1 year high of GBX 2,955.50 ($38.42).

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Diageo to a “buy” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($36.40) price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a GBX 2,500 ($32.50) price target on shares of Diageo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Diageo to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from GBX 2,300 ($29.90) to GBX 2,920 ($37.96) in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 2,876.67 ($37.40).

Insider Activity at Diageo

In other news, insider Nik Jhangiani sold 65,676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,165 ($28.15), for a total value of £1,421,885.40 ($1,848,524.96). Insiders have purchased 19 shares of company stock valued at $43,455 over the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Diageo

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. It offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavoured malt beverages. The company also provides Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as ready to drink and non-alcoholic products.