Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.98 on May 30th

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.98 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89.

Paychex has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Paychex has a dividend payout ratio of 67.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Paychex to earn $4.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 71.6%.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $120.63 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $121.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Paychex has a 12 month low of $104.09 and a 12 month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.