Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Plans Dividend Increase – $1.29 Per Share

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of 1.29 per share by the asset manager on Monday, August 10th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. This is a 11.2% increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16.

Blackstone has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years. Blackstone has a payout ratio of 80.8% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities analysts expect Blackstone to earn $7.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 68.1%.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $128.18 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $121.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.87. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $95.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.