Analysts Set Diageo plc (LON:DGE) Target Price at GBX 2,876.67

Diageo plc (LON:DGE) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 2,876.67 ($37.24).

DGE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Diageo to a “buy” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($36.25) target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 2,500 ($32.37) price objective on shares of Diageo in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Diageo to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from GBX 2,300 ($29.78) to GBX 2,920 ($37.80) in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Activity at Diageo

In related news, insider Nik Jhangiani sold 65,676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,165 ($28.03), for a total transaction of £1,421,885.40 ($1,840,866.65). In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 19 shares of company stock valued at $43,455. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Diageo Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Diageo stock opened at GBX 2,022.50 ($26.18) on Friday. Diageo has a 1-year low of GBX 2,006.50 ($25.98) and a 1-year high of GBX 2,955.50 ($38.26). The company’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 2,211.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 2,387.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 234.57, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of £44.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36.

Diageo Increases Dividend

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

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.