Costco Wholesale Co. (COST) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 7th

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of 1.16 per share by the retailer on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th.

Costco Wholesale has raised its dividend by an average of 13.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Costco Wholesale has a dividend payout ratio of 23.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Costco Wholesale to earn $19.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.6%.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,025.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $455.14 billion, a PE ratio of 60.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,024.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $956.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $910.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.