Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.88 (NYSE:BR)

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.88 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%.

Broadridge Financial Solutions has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 17 years. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a payout ratio of 37.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Broadridge Financial Solutions to earn $9.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.6%.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:BR opened at $242.01 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $231.46 and its 200-day moving average is $220.84. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 1-year low of $188.30 and a 1-year high of $242.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $28.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.76 and a beta of 1.08.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.24. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 44.40%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 10,757 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.82, for a total value of $2,439,902.74. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,878,118.98. This represents a 45.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 24,185 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.21, for a total value of $5,325,778.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,975,838.77. This trade represents a 47.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,532 shares of company stock worth $12,264,846 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $231.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.17.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Company Profile

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions.