Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Brokerages

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.50.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SNY. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Sanofi to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Sanofi in a report on Monday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Sanofi in a report on Friday, March 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Sanofi in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Sanofi in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock.

Sanofi Price Performance

NASDAQ SNY traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.19. 143,401 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,630,739. Sanofi has a 1-year low of $45.80 and a 1-year high of $60.12. The company has a market cap of $118.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.50. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $50.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.04. Sanofi had a return on equity of 17.15% and a net margin of 14.56%. The firm had revenue of $10.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sanofi will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $2.0369 dividend. This represents a yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Sanofi's previous annual dividend of $1.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Sanofi's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sanofi

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Sanofi by 11.6% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 206,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,460,000 after acquiring an additional 21,540 shares during the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in Sanofi in the first quarter valued at about $518,000. Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Sanofi in the first quarter valued at about $205,000. Intrua Financial LLC bought a new position in Sanofi during the first quarter worth about $247,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sanofi by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,978 shares of the company's stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.04% of the company's stock.

Sanofi Company Profile

Sanofi, a healthcare company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of therapeutic solutions in the United States, Europe, Canada, and internationally. It operates through Pharmaceuticals, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare segments. The company provides specialty care, such as DUPIXENT, neurology and immunology, rare diseases, oncology, and rare blood disorders; medicines for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; and established prescription products.