Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.21 Per Share

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC – Get Rating) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 4th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 1st will be given a dividend of 0.21 per share on Thursday, September 15th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 31st. This is an increase from Premier’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

Premier has a dividend payout ratio of 30.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Premier to earn $2.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.0%.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PINC traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.23. The company had a trading volume of 513,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 438,504. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.32. Premier has a 1 year low of $33.26 and a 1 year high of $42.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.05). Premier had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 18.14%. The business had revenue of $347.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $340.10 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Premier will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PINC. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Premier from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Premier in a research report on Wednesday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Premier from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $39.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 4th. Finally, SVB Leerink reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Premier in a research report on Tuesday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PINC. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Premier in the 1st quarter valued at about $84,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Premier in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $185,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Premier by 83.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,411 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Premier by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 5,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Premier in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 67.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Premier

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Premier, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a healthcare improvement company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Supply Chain Services and Performance Services. The Supply Chain Services segment offers its members with an access to a range of products and services, including medical and surgical products, pharmaceuticals, laboratory supplies, capital equipment, information technology, facilities and construction, and food and nutritional products, as well as purchased services, such as clinical engineering and document shredding.