Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) to Issue Dividend Increase – $1.71 Per Share

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share by the information technology services provider on Friday, November 13th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. This is a 4.9% increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63.

Accenture has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Accenture has a payout ratio of 47.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Accenture to earn $14.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.6%.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN traded down $8.93 on Friday, reaching $203.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,423,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,951,199. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $135.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.11. Accenture has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $179.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.46.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The business had revenue of $18.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.03 EPS. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Accenture will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 price target on Accenture in a report on Monday, June 8th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Accenture from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.96.

About Accenture

Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) is a global professional services company that helps organizations improve performance, modernize operations and respond to technological and market changes. Its services span strategy and consulting, technology, operations, and managed services, with expertise across industries including communications, financial services, health care, public service, retail, manufacturing and resources.

The company provides digital transformation, cloud migration, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, systems integration and technology implementation services.