Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 on June 12th

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the pharmacy operator on Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th.

Walgreens Boots Alliance has increased its dividend by an average of 1.3% per year over the last three years. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a payout ratio of 31.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Walgreens Boots Alliance to earn $3.13 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.9%.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.70. 6,592,036 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,083,050. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12 month low of $17.49 and a 12 month high of $35.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a PE ratio of -2.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WBA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $20.00 price target (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.36.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 13,456 shares of company stock valued at $270,423 in the last ninety days. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc operates as a healthcare, pharmacy, and retail company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Retail Pharmacy, International, and U.S. Healthcare. The U.S. Retail Pharmacy segment engages in operation of the retail drugstores, health and wellness services, specialty, and home delivery pharmacy services, which offers health and wellness, beauty, personal care and consumables, and general merchandise.