Mastercard Incorporated Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.76 (NYSE:MA)

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 10th,RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.54%.

Mastercard has increased its dividend by an average of 14.8% per year over the last three years and has increased 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. 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 Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $565.51 on Tuesday. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $576.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $519.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.71, 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $531.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $506.04.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MA. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho increased their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.08.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.