International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) to Issue Dividend Increase – $1.67 Per Share

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 30th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 1.67 per share by the technology company on Monday, June 10th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66.

International Business Machines has raised its dividend by an average of 0.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 28 years. International Business Machines has a dividend payout ratio of 63.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect International Business Machines to earn $10.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 63.9%.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of IBM opened at $168.64 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market cap of $154.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $185.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.66. International Business Machines has a 52 week low of $120.55 and a 52 week high of $199.18.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Wedbush upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.29.

International Business Machines Company Profile

International Business Machines Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated solutions and services worldwide. The company operates through Software, Consulting, Infrastructure, and Financing segments. The Software segment offers a hybrid cloud and AI platforms that allows clients to realize their digital and AI transformations across the applications, data, and environments in which they operate.