STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Announces $0.09 Quarterly Dividend

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 23rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be given a dividend of 0.09 per share by the semiconductor producer on Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th.

STMicroelectronics has raised its dividend by an average of 14.1% annually over the last three years. STMicroelectronics has a dividend payout ratio of 23.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect STMicroelectronics to earn $1.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.3%.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE STM traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.06. 6,076,217 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,756,046. The company has a market cap of $22.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.21. STMicroelectronics has a 52 week low of $17.25 and a 52 week high of $45.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 2.37.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.55 billion. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 8.92%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Susquehanna cut their target price on STMicroelectronics from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered STMicroelectronics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America lowered shares of STMicroelectronics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.97.

Institutional Trading of STMicroelectronics

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in STMicroelectronics stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Free Report) by 182.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,094 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock after buying an additional 20,745 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in STMicroelectronics were worth $705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company's stock.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.