Diageo plc (LON:DGE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Diageo plc (LON:DGE) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 3,008 ($39.05).

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,000 ($38.95) target price on shares of Diageo in a research report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 3,200 ($41.55) target price on shares of Diageo in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Diageo to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from GBX 2,100 ($27.27) to GBX 2,400 ($31.16) in a research report on Monday, August 12th.

Insider Transactions at Diageo

In other news, insider Javier Ferrán purchased 324 shares of Diageo stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 2,531 ($32.86) per share, with a total value of £8,200.44 ($10,647.16). Insiders bought 669 shares of company stock valued at $1,663,218 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Diageo Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of DGE opened at GBX 2,565.50 ($33.31) on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 2,532.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 2,594.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 186.26, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of £56.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,943.56, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36. Diageo has a 52-week low of GBX 2,165.60 ($28.12) and a 52-week high of GBX 3,268.50 ($42.44).

Diageo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This is a positive change from Diageo’s previous dividend of $0.41. This represents a yield of 1.92%. Diageo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5,984.85%.

Diageo Company Profile

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