CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) Announces $0.67 Quarterly Dividend

CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, September 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.665 per share by the pharmacy operator on Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st.

CVS Health has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.6% annually over the last three years. CVS Health has a payout ratio of 36.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect CVS Health to earn $7.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.66 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.5%.

CVS Health Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CVS traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.51. 5,630,611 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,896,779. CVS Health has a 1 year low of $52.77 and a 1 year high of $83.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.71. The firm has a market cap of $72.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.53.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $91.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 1.98%. CVS Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CVS. Baird R W raised shares of CVS Health to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on CVS Health in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $61.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.10.

About CVS Health

CVS Health Corporation provides health solutions in the United States. It operates through Health Care Benefits, Health Services, and Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness segments. The Health Care Benefits segment offers traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services.