Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) Declares $0.75 Quarterly Dividend

Northern Trust Co. (NASDAQ:NTRS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 16th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of 0.75 per share by the asset manager on Monday, July 1st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th.

Northern Trust has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.3% per year over the last three years. Northern Trust has a payout ratio of 43.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Northern Trust to earn $6.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.1%.

Northern Trust Stock Performance

Northern Trust stock opened at $81.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Northern Trust has a twelve month low of $62.44 and a twelve month high of $89.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.81). Northern Trust had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Northern Trust will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet upgraded Northern Trust from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $82.00) on shares of Northern Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Northern Trust from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Northern Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Steven L. Fradkin sold 30,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $2,434,703.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,462,687.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRS. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 2.4% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,921 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Northern Trust by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 12,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,512,000 after buying an additional 2,716 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Northern Trust in the 1st quarter worth about $548,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Northern Trust by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,711,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,644,763,000 after acquiring an additional 457,748 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 271.7% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. 83.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.