Motorola Solutions, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.09 (NYSE:MSI)

Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 1.09 per share by the communications equipment provider on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $4.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Motorola Solutions has raised its dividend by an average of 11.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Motorola Solutions has a payout ratio of 27.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Motorola Solutions to earn $14.79 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.5%.

Motorola Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSI opened at $425.72 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Motorola Solutions has a twelve month low of $326.22 and a twelve month high of $507.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $460.64 and its 200-day moving average is $460.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.17, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.02.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The communications equipment provider reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($0.10). Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 197.59% and a net margin of 14.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSI shares. Raymond James upped their target price on Motorola Solutions from $425.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Motorola Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Motorola Solutions from $440.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Motorola Solutions from $495.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Motorola Solutions from $529.00 to $527.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Motorola Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $505.88.

About Motorola Solutions

Motorola Solutions, Inc provides public safety and enterprise security solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Products and Systems Integration, and Software and Services. The Products and Systems Integration segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and video security devices and infrastructure, as well as the implementation and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications for government, public safety, and commercial customers who operate private communications networks and video security solutions, as well as manage a mobile workforce.