Diageo (LON:DGE) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Diageo plc (LON:DGE) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as GBX 2,031 ($26.15) and last traded at GBX 2,032.73 ($26.17), with a volume of 30990139 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,051.50 ($26.41).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DGE shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Diageo to a “buy” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($36.05) price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a GBX 2,500 ($32.19) target price on shares of Diageo in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised Diageo to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from GBX 2,300 ($29.61) to GBX 2,920 ($37.59) in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 2,876.67 ($37.04).

Diageo Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of £44.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is GBX 2,218.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 2,390.22.

Diageo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a GBX 20.75 ($0.27) dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from Diageo’s previous dividend of $0.63. Diageo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.25%.

Insider Transactions 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 ($27.87), for a total transaction of £1,421,885.40 ($1,830,675.16). Insiders acquired a total of 19 shares of company stock valued at $43,455 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.