Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.40

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share by the online travel company on Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th.

Expedia Group has a dividend payout ratio of 9.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Expedia Group to earn $14.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.8%.

Expedia Group Trading Up 6.8%

NASDAQ EXPE traded up $10.59 on Monday, reaching $167.25. 3,188,359 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,328,212. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $161.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Expedia Group has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The online travel company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Expedia Group will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Expedia Group stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,192 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $408,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Expedia Group from $219.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Expedia Group from $205.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.88.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group, Inc operates as an online travel company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through B2C, B2B, and trivago segments. Its B2C segment includes Brand Expedia, a full-service online travel brand offers various travel products and services; Hotels.com for lodging accommodations; Vrbo, an online marketplace for the alternative accommodations; Orbitz, Travelocity, Wotif Group, ebookers, CheapTickets, Hotwire.com and CarRentals.com.