Baxter International Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.17 (NYSE:BAX)

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 11th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of 0.17 per share by the medical instruments supplier on Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th.

Baxter International has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.7% per year over the last three years. Baxter International has a dividend payout ratio of 25.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Baxter International to earn $2.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.2%.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAX opened at $32.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 0.60. Baxter International has a twelve month low of $31.60 and a twelve month high of $44.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. Baxter International had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 0.77%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Baxter International will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAX has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Baxter International from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Baxter International from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Baxter International from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Baxter International from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Baxter International presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.91.

About Baxter International

Baxter International Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops and provides a portfolio of healthcare products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Medical Products and Therapies, Healthcare Systems and Technologies, Pharmaceuticals, and Kidney Care. The company offers sterile intravenous (IV) solutions; infusion systems and devices; parenteral nutrition therapies; generic injectable pharmaceuticals; surgical hemostat and sealant products, advanced surgical equipment; smart bed systems; patient monitoring and diagnostic technologies; and respiratory health devices, as well as advanced equipment for the surgical space, including surgical video technologies, precision positioning devices, and other accessories.