Analysts Set Diageo plc (LON:DGE) Price Target at GBX 2,876.67

Shares of Diageo plc (LON:DGE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 2,876.67 ($37.15).

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Diageo to a “buy” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($36.16) price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 2,500 ($32.28) price target on shares of Diageo in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised Diageo to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from GBX 2,300 ($29.70) to GBX 2,920 ($37.71) in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diageo

In other Diageo news, insider Nik Jhangiani sold 65,676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,165 ($27.96), for a total transaction of £1,421,885.40 ($1,836,112.35). Insiders have purchased a total of 19 shares of company stock worth $43,455 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Diageo Stock Performance

Shares of DGE opened at GBX 2,064.50 ($26.66) on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of £45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 234.57, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is GBX 2,237.81. Diageo has a 52 week low of GBX 2,031.50 ($26.23) and a 52 week high of GBX 2,955.50 ($38.17).

Diageo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of GBX 20.75 ($0.27) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a yield of 3.66%. This is a boost from Diageo’s previous dividend of $0.63. Diageo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.25%.

About Diageo

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. It offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavoured malt beverages. The company also provides Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as ready to drink and non-alcoholic products.