Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) Raises Dividend to $0.23 Per Share

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.225 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, April 7th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Alexander & Baldwin’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Alexander & Baldwin has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.0% per year over the last three years. Alexander & Baldwin has a dividend payout ratio of 130.4% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Alexander & Baldwin to earn $1.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 80.4%.

Alexander & Baldwin Price Performance

ALEX stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.99. The stock had a trading volume of 346,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,967. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.65. Alexander & Baldwin has a 52 week low of $15.53 and a 52 week high of $20.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.01 and a beta of 1.29.

Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.15. Alexander & Baldwin had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 19.64%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alexander & Baldwin will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alexander & Baldwin in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alexander & Baldwin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alexander & Baldwin has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.50.

About Alexander & Baldwin

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc engages in the real estate business. It operates through the Commercial Real Estate and Land Operations segments. The Commercial Real Estate segment includes investments and acquisitions, construction and development, and in-house leasing and property management. The Land Operations segment consists of legacy landholdings, assets, and liabilities subject to the company’s simplification and monetization effort.