Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.71

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share by the information technology services provider on Friday, November 13th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. This is a 4.9% increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63.

Accenture has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Accenture has a dividend payout ratio of 47.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Accenture to earn $14.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.6%.

Accenture Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of NYSE ACN traded down $8.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $203.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,423,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,951,199. Accenture has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09. The company has a market capitalization of $135.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.46.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The company had revenue of $18.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.03 EPS. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Accenture will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Accenture from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “reduce” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $250.00 price target on Accenture and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.96.

About Accenture

Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) is a global professional services company that helps organizations improve performance, modernize operations and respond to technological and market changes. Its services span strategy and consulting, technology, operations, and managed services, with expertise across industries including communications, financial services, health care, public service, retail, manufacturing and resources.

The company provides digital transformation, cloud migration, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, systems integration and technology implementation services.