Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Board of Directors Announces Share Buyback Plan

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MDLZ shares. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Mondelez International in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on Mondelez International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Mondelez International from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Mondelez International from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mondelez International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.07.

Mondelez International Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Mondelez International stock opened at $61.93 on Friday. Mondelez International has a one year low of $60.33 and a one year high of $77.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $67.18 and its 200 day moving average is $68.68. The firm has a market cap of $82.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.53.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.14. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 10.58%. The business had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mondelez International will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

Mondelez International Company Profile

Mondelez International, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells snack food and beverage products in the Latin America, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It provides biscuits and baked snacks, including cookies, crackers, salted snacks, snack bars, and cakes and pastries; chocolates; and gums and candies, as well as various cheese and grocery, and powdered beverage products.