VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.81 Per Share

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.81 per share by the information services provider on Friday, February 27th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This is a 5.2% increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77.

VeriSign has a dividend payout ratio of 32.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

VeriSign Stock Down 3.2%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $234.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37 and a beta of 0.75. VeriSign has a twelve month low of $216.43 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $246.61 and its 200 day moving average is $260.12.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.86% and a negative return on equity of 40.66%. The firm had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research lowered VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.00.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.