Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.19

Key Points

• Electronic Arts Inc. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, with a record date of August 27th and payment scheduled for September 17th, reflecting an annualized dividend of $0.76 and a yield of 0.51%.
• The company reported a loss of ($0.23) earnings per share for the last quarter, significantly missing the consensus estimate of $0.13, along with a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 15.02%.
• Analysts have generally rated EA's stock with a consensus "Hold," with a target price averaging $162.92, while some firms have upgraded their price objectives significantly, reflecting positive sentiment around the company's potential.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 29th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of 0.19 per share by the game software company on Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%.

Electronic Arts has a payout ratio of 8.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Electronic Arts to earn $5.59 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.6%.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

EA stock traded down $4.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $147.79. The company had a trading volume of 3,162,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,495,596. The firm has a market cap of $37.14 billion, a PE ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $151.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.94. Electronic Arts has a 12 month low of $115.21 and a 12 month high of $168.50.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The game software company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.36). Electronic Arts had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 15.02%. On average, analysts forecast that Electronic Arts will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Electronic Arts

In related news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 6,563 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.18, for a total transaction of $992,194.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 70,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,591,519.62. This represents a 8.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jacob J. Schatz sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.32, for a total transaction of $222,480.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,219,407.36. The trade was a 5.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,729 shares of company stock worth $4,822,884 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Electronic Arts

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EA. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Electronic Arts by 150.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 316 shares of the game software company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Electronic Arts by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,420 shares of the game software company's stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Electronic Arts by 167.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,306 shares of the game software company's stock worth $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 12,076 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EA. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Electronic Arts in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Electronic Arts from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Electronic Arts has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $162.92.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc develops, markets, publishes, and distributes games, content, and services for game consoles, PCs, mobile phones, and tablets worldwide. It develops and publishes games and services across various genres, such as sports, racing, first-person shooter, action, role-playing, and simulation primarily under the Battlefield, The Sims, Apex Legends, Need for Speed, and license games from others, including FIFA, Madden NFL, UFC, and Star Wars brands.

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