Diageo (LON:DGE) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Diageo plc (LON:DGE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as GBX 2,003.60 ($25.90) and last traded at GBX 2,017 ($26.08), with a volume of 36649563 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,046.50 ($26.46).

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Diageo to a “buy” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($36.20) price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Diageo to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from GBX 2,300 ($29.73) to GBX 2,920 ($37.75) in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 2,500 ($32.32) price objective on shares of Diageo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of GBX 2,876.67 ($37.19).

Diageo Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 2,187.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 2,378.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 234.57, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market cap of £45.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36.

Diageo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a GBX 20.75 ($0.27) dividend. This is a positive change from Diageo’s previous dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a yield of 3.66%. Diageo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nik Jhangiani sold 65,676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,165 ($27.99), for a total transaction of £1,421,885.40 ($1,838,248.74). In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 19 shares of company stock worth $43,455. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company 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.