NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Increases Dividend to $0.40 Per Share

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 14th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the footwear maker on Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37.

NIKE has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. NIKE has a dividend payout ratio of 50.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect NIKE to earn $3.15 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 50.8%.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $78.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.17. NIKE has a 12 month low of $70.75 and a 12 month high of $123.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.03.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $11.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.64 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.84% and a net margin of 10.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NKE. Williams Trading upgraded shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NIKE from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on NIKE from $84.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.86.

NIKE Company Profile

NIKE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and sells athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services worldwide. The company provides athletic and casual footwear, apparel, and accessories under the Jumpman trademark; and casual sneakers, apparel, and accessories under the Converse, Chuck Taylor, All Star, One Star, Star Chevron, and Jack Purcell trademarks.