Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.55 Per Share

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 3rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.55 per share by the business services provider on Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Booz Allen Hamilton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51.

Booz Allen Hamilton has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Booz Allen Hamilton has a payout ratio of 28.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Booz Allen Hamilton to earn $6.94 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.7%.

Booz Allen Hamilton Stock Performance

Shares of BAH opened at $124.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $133.11 and a 200-day moving average of $149.28. The company has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57. Booz Allen Hamilton has a 1 year low of $121.02 and a 1 year high of $190.59.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.07. Booz Allen Hamilton had a net margin of 7.39% and a return on equity of 68.97%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Booz Allen Hamilton will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $200.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays raised Booz Allen Hamilton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Booz Allen Hamilton from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.91.

Booz Allen Hamilton Company Profile

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation provides management and technology consulting, analytics, engineering, digital solutions, mission operations, and cyber services to governments, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. It focuses on artificial intelligence services comprising of machine learning, predictive modeling, automation and decision analytics, and quantum computing.