CENTRAL TRUST Co Trims Position in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its position in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,874 shares of the company’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Diageo were worth $2,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DEO. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Diageo by 1,034.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 799,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,443,000 after buying an additional 729,166 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Diageo by 416.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 521,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,939,000 after acquiring an additional 420,778 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Diageo by 52.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 853,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,800,000 after purchasing an additional 293,017 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in shares of Diageo by 12,174.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 246,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,045,000 after purchasing an additional 244,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Diageo by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,351,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,785,000 after purchasing an additional 154,497 shares during the period. 8.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Diageo Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of DEO opened at $134.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.62. Diageo plc has a 1 year low of $119.48 and a 1 year high of $161.64. The firm has a market cap of $74.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.69.

Diageo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Diageo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on DEO shares. Bank of America upgraded Diageo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Diageo from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Diageo from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Diageo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diageo presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

About Diageo

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The company offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavored malt beverages. It also provides Chinese, Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as flavored malt beverages, ready to drink, and non-alcoholic products.