Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.47

Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.47 per share on Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

Mondelez International has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.5% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Mondelez International has a payout ratio of 55.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Mondelez International to earn $3.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.5%.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MDLZ opened at $60.21 on Friday. Mondelez International has a 52 week low of $58.90 and a 52 week high of $77.20. The company has a market cap of $80.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.10.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.14. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Mondelez International will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MDLZ shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Mondelez International from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $78.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Mondelez International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Mondelez International from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mondelez International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.07.

About Mondelez International

Mondelez International, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells snack food and beverage products in the Latin America, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It provides biscuits and baked snacks, including cookies, crackers, salted snacks, snack bars, and cakes and pastries; chocolates; and gums and candies, as well as various cheese and grocery, and powdered beverage products.