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

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 15th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.506 per share on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This is an increase from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51.

Cardinal Health has raised its dividend by an average of 1.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 28 consecutive years. Cardinal Health has a payout ratio of 26.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Cardinal Health to earn $8.40 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 24.0%.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAH opened at $109.79 on Friday. Cardinal Health has a 1-year low of $85.82 and a 1-year high of $116.05. The stock has a market cap of $26.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $107.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.91.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.10. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.37% and a negative return on equity of 54.85%. The business had revenue of $59.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Cardinal Health from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Cardinal Health from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cardinal Health

In other Cardinal Health news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 16,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.39, for a total value of $1,812,920.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 75,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,310,467.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jason M. Hollar sold 26,716 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 $26,574,187.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 16,573 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.39, for a total value of $1,812,920.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 75,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,310,467.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 113,963 shares of company stock worth $12,379,980. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

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.