Mastercard Incorporated (MA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.87 on May 8th

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of 0.87 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, May 8th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th.

Mastercard has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Mastercard has a dividend payout ratio of 18.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Mastercard to earn $18.61 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.7%.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.5%

MA stock opened at $501.07 on Tuesday. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $515.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $543.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $446.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $664.40.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.