Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) Announces Dividend Increase – $2.42 Per Share

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) announced an annual dividend on Tuesday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a dividend of 2.4225 per share on Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a yield of 502.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. This is a 18.9% increase from Sanofi’s previous annual dividend of $2.04.

Sanofi has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years. Sanofi has a dividend payout ratio of 31.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sanofi to earn $4.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.59 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.5%.

Sanofi Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SNY traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,376,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,992,940. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Sanofi has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $55.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.04. The company has a market capitalization of $117.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on SNY. Bank of America downgraded shares of Sanofi from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sanofi in a report on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Sanofi to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sanofi in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Sanofi from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.00.

Sanofi Company Profile

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) is a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in France that researches, develops, manufactures and markets prescription medicines, vaccines and consumer healthcare products. The company operates across multiple therapeutic areas, including immunology, rare diseases, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and vaccines through its Sanofi Pasteur division. Sanofi sells products to hospitals, clinics, governments and retail pharmacies, with a broad global footprint and significant presence in Europe, North America and emerging markets.

Key commercial offerings include specialty biologics and established small-molecule medicines.