Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) Plans Annual Dividend of $1.48

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) declared an annual dividend on Tuesday, March 26th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 1.478 per share on Thursday, June 6th. This represents a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Sanofi’s previous annual dividend of $1.38.

Sanofi has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Sanofi has a dividend payout ratio of 40.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Sanofi to earn $4.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.3%.

Sanofi Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SNY opened at $49.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.61. Sanofi has a 12 month low of $42.63 and a 12 month high of $57.82. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.05). Sanofi had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 27.47%. The company had revenue of $11.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.02 billion. Analysts expect that Sanofi will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SNY. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Sanofi by 276.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,362,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,468,271 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Sanofi by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,733,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,513,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251,199 shares during the period. Perceptive Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sanofi during the first quarter worth about $41,800,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Sanofi during the fourth quarter worth about $38,108,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Sanofi by 24.2% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,643,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,260,000 after purchasing an additional 515,245 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SNY shares. StockNews.com lowered Sanofi from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. TheStreet lowered Sanofi from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Sanofi in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Sanofi from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

About Sanofi

Sanofi, a healthcare company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of therapeutic solutions in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Pharmaceuticals, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare segments. The company provides specialty care, such as DUPIXENT, neurology and immunology, rare diseases, oncology, and rare blood disorders; medicines for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; and established prescription products.