Diageo plc (LON:DGE) Receives GBX 2,876.67 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Diageo plc (LON:DGE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 2,876.67 ($37.24).

DGE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Diageo to a “buy” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($36.25) price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a GBX 2,500 ($32.37) price objective on shares of Diageo in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Diageo to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from GBX 2,300 ($29.78) to GBX 2,920 ($37.80) in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nik Jhangiani sold 65,676 shares of Diageo stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,165 ($28.03), for a total value of £1,421,885.40 ($1,840,866.65). Insiders bought 19 shares of company stock valued at $43,455 over the last quarter. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Diageo Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of DGE stock opened at GBX 2,032 ($26.31) on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of GBX 2,225.05 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 2,392.71. The stock has a market cap of £45.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36. Diageo has a 52-week low of GBX 2,027.70 ($26.25) and a 52-week high of GBX 2,955.50 ($38.26). The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 234.57, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Diageo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of GBX 20.75 ($0.27) per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from Diageo’s previous dividend of $0.63. Diageo’s payout ratio is currently 44.25%.

About Diageo

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. It offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavoured malt beverages. The company also provides Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as ready to drink and non-alcoholic products.