Automatic Data Processing, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.54 (NASDAQ:ADP)

Key Points

• Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.54 per share, payable to shareholders on October 1st, with a current dividend yield of 2.0%.
• The company reported $2.26 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and indicating a 19.84% net margin with revenue of $5.13 billion.
• Automatic Data Processing has a dividend payout ratio of 56.6%, suggesting that future dividends are well-supported by earnings forecasts, as the expected earnings for the next year are $10.82 per share.

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 6th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of 1.54 per share by the business services provider on Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th.

Automatic Data Processing has a payout ratio of 56.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Automatic Data Processing to earn $10.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.9%.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.8%

ADP traded up $2.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $305.81. The company had a trading volume of 879,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,483,232. The company has a market cap of $123.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $308.13 and a 200-day moving average of $305.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Automatic Data Processing has a 1-year low of $258.63 and a 1-year high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.84% and a return on equity of 72.84%. The firm had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing to a "hold" rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $314.33.

About Automatic Data Processing

Automatic Data Processing, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Employer Services and Professional Employer Organization (PEO). The Employer Services segment offers strategic, cloud-based platforms, and human resources (HR) outsourcing solutions.