Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) Increases Dividend to $0.79 Per Share

Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) announced an annual dividend on Friday, May 9th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.7871 per share on Friday, June 6th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This is a 80.1% increase from Fresenius Medical Care’s previous annual dividend of $0.44.

Fresenius Medical Care has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 8.2% annually over the last three years. Fresenius Medical Care has a payout ratio of 33.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Fresenius Medical Care to earn $1.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.79 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.1%.

Fresenius Medical Care Stock Performance

Fresenius Medical Care stock opened at $29.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Fresenius Medical Care has a twelve month low of $17.93 and a twelve month high of $30.48. The company has a market capitalization of $17.53 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.85.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Fresenius Medical Care had a return on equity of 6.04% and a net margin of 3.43%. Research analysts expect that Fresenius Medical Care will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FMS shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Fresenius Medical Care from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Fresenius Medical Care in a report on Tuesday. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Fresenius Medical Care stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) by 14.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,297 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,777 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Fresenius Medical Care were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.37% of the company’s stock.

About Fresenius Medical Care

Fresenius Medical Care AG provides dialysis and related services for individuals with renal diseases in Germany, North America, and internationally. The company offers dialysis treatment and related laboratory and diagnostic services through a network of outpatient dialysis clinics; materials, training, and patient support services comprising clinical monitoring, follow-up assistance, and arranging for delivery of the supplies to the patient's residence; and dialysis services under contract to hospitals in the United States for the hospitalized end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and for patients suffering from acute kidney failure.