Diageo plc (LON:DGE) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Diageo plc (LON:DGE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 2,876.67 ($37.24).

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised Diageo to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from GBX 2,300 ($29.78) to GBX 2,920 ($37.80) in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a GBX 2,500 ($32.37) target price on shares of Diageo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Diageo to a “buy” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($36.25) price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Diageo Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of LON:DGE opened at GBX 2,022.50 ($26.18) on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 234.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 2,211.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 2,387.02. Diageo has a 12-month low of GBX 2,006.50 ($25.98) and a 12-month high of GBX 2,955.50 ($38.26). The stock has a market capitalization of £44.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36.

Diageo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of GBX 20.75 ($0.27) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is a boost from Diageo’s previous dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Diageo’s payout ratio is presently 44.25%.

Insider Activity at Diageo

In related news, insider Nik Jhangiani sold 65,676 shares of Diageo stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 have purchased a total of 19 shares of company stock worth $43,455 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.