3 Long-Term Dividend Payers Announce Quarterly Dividends
- By Alberto Abaterusso
The following long-term dividend payers announced quarterly dividends on May 9.
Shares of Meredith Corp. (MDP) were unchanged at $59.18 in after-hours trading on Thursday following the announcement of a 57.5-cent cash regular quarterly dividend per common share to be paid on June 14, the second in 2019, to shareholders of record May 31. The ex-dividend date is scheduled for May 30.
Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with MDP. Click here to check it out.
This Powerful Chart Made Peter Lynch 29% A Year For 13 Years
Based on the closing share price on Thursday, the payment, which is in line with the previous one, leads to a forward dividend yield of 3.89% versus the industry median of 3.09%.
The dividend of Meredith Corp. is ranked higher than 135 out of 211 companies that operate in the publishing industry.
Meredith Corp.'s website says that the Des Moines, Iowa-headquartered diversified media company has paid dividends for 72 years in a row and has increased the payment for 26 consecutive years. The current quarterly payment represents a 5.5% hike from the fourth dividend paid in 2018.
The trailing 12-month dividend per share increased 1.2% on average over the last five years.
Source: GuruFocus.com
The stock has gained nearly 14% so far this year but underperformed the S&P 500 index by 1.6%. The closing price on Thursday was 25% above the 52-week low of $47.30 and 5.4% off the 52-week high of $62.40.
The market cap is $2.67 billion, the forward price-earnings ratio is 7.3, the price-book ratio is 2.51 and the price-sales ratio is 0.9.
The Peter Lynch chart suggests Meredith Corp. is expensive.
Wall Street issued an overweight recommendation rating for shares of Meredith Corp. with an average target price of $66, reflecting 11.5% growth from the closing price on Thursday.
Shares of First Merchants Corp. (FRME) were unchanged at $37.24 in after-hours trading on Thursday following the announcement of an 18.2% increase in the cash quarterly dividend to 26 cents per share from the prior dividend of 22 cents.
On June 21, the Muncie, Indiana-based regional bank will pay the dividend to shareholders of record May 20. The ex-dividend date is scheduled for May 17. It is its second dividend payment this year.
Based on the closing price on Thursday, the cash quarterly dividend, if held constant, leads to a forward dividend yield of 2.36%, which misses the industry median of 3.16% and is ranked lower than 1,834 out of 2,534 companies operating in the Banks - Regional - US industry.
First Merchants Corp. has regularly paid quarterly dividends since September 1989. The dividend per share increased 5.1% on average every 12 months over the last 60 months.
Source: GuruFocus.com
Shares of First Merchants Corp. increased 8.7% this year but are underperforming the S&P 500 index by 5.8%. The closing share price of $37.24 on Thursday was 14.6% above the 52-week low of $32.49 and 35.4% below the 52-week high of $50.44.
The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-earnings ratio of 11.58 and a price-sales ratio of 4.43.
The Peter Lynch chart suggests the stock is cheap.
Wall Street issued an overweight recommendation rating on shares of First Merchants Corp. with an average target price of $44.50, which is 19.5% higher than the closing price on Thursday.
Shares of National HealthCare Corp. (NHC) were up 1.55% at $77.92 at close on Thursday before the company announced a 4% increase in the cash quarterly dividend to 52 cents per common share to be paid on Aug. 30. The previous dividend was 50 cents per common share on June 3.
For the payment in August, the record date is June 28, and the ex-dividend date is scheduled for June 27.
Based on Thursday's closing price, the Murfreesboro, Tennessee-based health care services and programs provider has a forward dividend yield of 2.61% versus the industry median of 1.99%. National HealthCare Corp.'s forward dividend yield is ranked higher than 178 out of 251 companies that operate in the Long-Term Care Facilities industry.
National HealthCare Corp. has paid dividends from June 1989 to January 1998 and from April 2004 to March 2019. The yearly dividend per share increased 1.2% on average every 12 months over the last five years through December 2018.
Source: GuruFocus.com
The stock is 0.7% down this year, underperforming the S&P 500 index by 13.8%. The closing price on Thursday was 22.8% above the 52-week low of $63.46 and 11% below the 52-week high of $86.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-earnings ratio of 20.15, a price-book ratio of 1.67 and a price-sales ratio of 1.22.
Below Peter Lynch chart indicates the share price is trading substantially higher than both the earnings line (P/E = 15) and the price at med P/E without NRI (P/E = 14.11), suggesting shares of National HealthCare Corp. are overvalued.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any securities mentioned.
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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with MDP. Click here to check it out.
This Powerful Chart Made Peter Lynch 29% A Year For 13 Years
