Mastercard (MA) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) is projected to release its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, January 30th. Analysts expect Mastercard to post earnings of $3.71 per share and revenue of $7,385,626.37 billion for the quarter. Parties that are interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Mastercard to post $14 EPS for the current fiscal year and $16 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $527.02 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $483.72 billion, a PE ratio of 39.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $524.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $496.01.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MA. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.