Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.98 on May 30th

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.98 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89.

Paychex has increased its dividend by an average of 11.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Paychex has a payout ratio of 67.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Paychex to earn $4.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 71.6%.

Paychex Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $118.45 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $121.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Paychex has a one year low of $104.09 and a one year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.