Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Plans $0.51 Quarterly Dividend

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 5th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.5056 per share on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%.

Cardinal Health has increased its dividend payment by an average of 1.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 28 years. Cardinal Health has a dividend payout ratio of 26.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Cardinal Health to earn $8.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.02 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.7%.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Cardinal Health stock traded up $1.96 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $115.14. 179,196 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,073,554. Cardinal Health has a 1-year low of $93.17 and a 1-year high of $119.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $111.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.23.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $52.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.90 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 56.56% and a net margin of 0.56%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAH has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho increased their target price on Cardinal Health from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com cut Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cardinal Health from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Argus upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cardinal Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Insider Activity at Cardinal Health

In other Cardinal Health news, CFO Aaron E. Alt sold 2,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.91, for a total transaction of $252,997.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 36,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,015,184.97. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Cardinal Health news, CFO Aaron E. Alt sold 2,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.91, for a total value of $252,997.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 36,867 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,184.97. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 26,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $2,908,570.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 244,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,574,187.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,963 shares of company stock worth $12,379,980 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health, Inc operates as a healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home.