Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.21

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 26th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.21 per share on Saturday, June 15th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st.

Premier has increased its dividend payment by an average of 30.3% per year over the last three years. Premier has a payout ratio of 35.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Premier to earn $2.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.8%.

Premier Price Performance

NASDAQ:PINC traded up $0.15 on Friday, reaching $20.96. The stock had a trading volume of 1,195,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,103,782. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.38. Premier has a 1-year low of $18.89 and a 1-year high of $33.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.18.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $334.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $338.55 million. Premier had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 11.60%. Research analysts forecast that Premier will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PINC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 target price on the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of Premier in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.15.

Premier Company Profile

Premier, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a healthcare improvement company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Supply Chain Services and Performance Services. The Supply Chain Services segment offers its members with an access to a range of products and services, including medical and surgical products, pharmaceuticals, laboratory supplies, capital equipment, information technology, facilities and construction, and food and nutritional products, as well as purchased services, such as clinical engineering and workforce solutions.