Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.51

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 5th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of 0.5107 per share on Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This is a 1.0% increase from Cardinal Health's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51.

Cardinal Health has raised its dividend payment by an average of 1.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 28 consecutive years. Cardinal Health has a dividend payout ratio of 22.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Cardinal Health to earn $8.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.02 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.6%.

Cardinal Health Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CAH traded down $6.18 on Thursday, reaching $147.30. 2,688,509 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,550,972. The company has a 50-day moving average of $133.84 and a 200-day moving average of $125.81. The firm has a market cap of $35.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.66. Cardinal Health has a 1-year low of $93.17 and a 1-year high of $154.07.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $54.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.33 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.59% and a negative return on equity of 59.57%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $142.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $146.43.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health, Inc operates as a healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home.