Mastercard Incorporated (MA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.76 on May 9th

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 10th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.76 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th.

Mastercard has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Mastercard has a payout ratio of 16.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Mastercard to earn $18.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.3%.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $564.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $518.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.66, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $576.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $532.30 and a 200 day moving average of $507.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $603.08.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.