Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Plans $1.77 Quarterly Dividend

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 17th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of 1.77 per share by the basic materials company on Monday, August 12th. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st.

Air Products and Chemicals has raised its dividend by an average of 9.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 49 consecutive years. Air Products and Chemicals has a payout ratio of 52.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Air Products and Chemicals to earn $13.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.3%.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD opened at $258.05 on Friday. Air Products and Chemicals has a 12 month low of $212.24 and a 12 month high of $307.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $259.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $251.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $57.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on APD shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.