Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Raises Dividend to $0.79 Per Share

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) declared a semi-annual dividend on Thursday, February 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.7874 per share on Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51.

Novo Nordisk A/S has increased its dividend by an average of 25.1% annually over the last three years. Novo Nordisk A/S has a dividend payout ratio of 22.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Novo Nordisk A/S to earn $3.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.03 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.5%.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 1.7 %

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $87.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $78.17 and a 12-month high of $148.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $92.24 and a 200 day moving average of $112.01.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 35.03% and a return on equity of 86.32%. As a group, research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on NVO shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

About Novo Nordisk A/S

Novo Nordisk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research and development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North America, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Diabetes and Obesity Care, and Rare Disease.