Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.16

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 1.16 per share by the retailer on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%.

Costco Wholesale has increased its dividend by an average of 13.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Costco Wholesale has a payout ratio of 23.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Costco Wholesale to earn $19.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.6%.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded down $2.54 during trading on Thursday, reaching $942.16. 1,335,252 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,874,885. The company has a market capitalization of $418.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.32, a P/E/G ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $950.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $903.04. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $675.96 and a twelve month high of $1,008.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.