Diageo plc (LON:DGE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Diageo plc (LON:DGE - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 2,665.33 ($36.19).

Separately, Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 2,372 ($32.21) price target on shares of Diageo in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st.

Insider Activity at Diageo

In other news, insider John Alexander Manzoni purchased 299 shares of Diageo stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 2,194 ($29.79) per share, for a total transaction of £6,560.06 ($8,907.07). In the last 90 days, insiders bought 953 shares of company stock worth $1,983,862. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Diageo Price Performance

LON DGE opened at GBX 1,950 ($26.48) on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 2,067.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 2,214.57. The stock has a market cap of £43.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36. Diageo has a 52 week low of GBX 1,908 ($25.91) and a 52 week high of GBX 2,731.50 ($37.09). The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 234.57.

Diageo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of GBX 20.75 ($0.28) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Diageo's previous dividend of $0.63. This represents a yield of 3.66%. Diageo's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.25%.

Diageo Company Profile

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. It offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavoured malt beverages. The company also provides Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as ready to drink and non-alcoholic products.

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