Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.16

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a dividend of 1.16 per share by the asset manager on Monday, May 11th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th.

Blackstone has increased its dividend by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years. Blackstone has a dividend payout ratio of 72.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Blackstone to earn $7.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.4%.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $0.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $126.56. The stock had a trading volume of 5,647,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,265,798. Blackstone has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $93.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.27.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Trending Headlines about Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sources say Apollo, Blackstone and KKR are competing to buy Shell’s stake in the massive LNG Canada project — a potential strategic investment for Blackstone that could add scale to its energy/private assets and revenue potential if a deal is reached. Exclusive: Apollo, Blackstone and KKR vie for Shell stake in LNG Canada, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend coverage highlights an upcoming payout (Simply Wall St/Yahoo piece), which can support investor sentiment for BX by signaling cash return and income potential for shareholders. Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Pays A US$1.16 Dividend In Just Two Days
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst-focused coverage of Blackstone’s Q1 earnings call (MSN roundup of top analyst questions) may affect near-term guidance detail and investor expectations but is more informational unless new guidance or revisions emerge. Blackstone’s Q1 earnings call: Our top 5 analyst questions
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 BX shares on May 1 at about $125.79 (?$3.78M), reducing his stake by ~3.23% — a large, disclosed sale that can be perceived negatively by investors searching for insider conviction. SEC filing: Insider sale SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research moved BX to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), a notable downgrade that can pressure sentiment and trigger short-term selling by momentum/quant strategies. Coverage referenced by Zacks/TickerReport and media roundups. Zacks.com Tickerreport: Zacks downgrade

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.