Philip Morris International Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.35 (NYSE:PM)

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 6th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of 1.35 per share on Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%.

Philip Morris International has raised its dividend by an average of 2.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. Philip Morris International has a dividend payout ratio of 69.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Philip Morris International to earn $7.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 68.4%.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $152.74. 1,855,184 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,887,191. The company has a market cap of $237.48 billion, a PE ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $134.82 and its 200-day moving average is $128.60. Philip Morris International has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at $3,117,354.12. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.85, for a total value of $4,465,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 139,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,705,779.25. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 128,143 shares of company stock worth $19,092,846 over the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Philip Morris International

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Philip Morris International stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,531 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PM shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

About Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.