Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.19

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.19 per share by the game software company on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th.

Electronic Arts has raised its dividend by an average of 3.8% annually over the last three years. Electronic Arts has a dividend payout ratio of 8.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Electronic Arts to earn $5.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.9%.

Electronic Arts Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EA opened at $132.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.62 billion, a PE ratio of 33.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $144.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Electronic Arts has a 12-month low of $115.21 and a 12-month high of $168.50.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The game software company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by ($1.07). Electronic Arts had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 18.56%. Research analysts anticipate that Electronic Arts will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew Wilson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.47, for a total transaction of $832,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,758,819.05. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vijayanthimala Singh sold 1,000 shares of Electronic Arts stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.45, for a total transaction of $164,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,969,021.20. This represents a 3.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,500 shares of company stock worth $3,562,510 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EA shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $163.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Electronic Arts from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Electronic Arts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $175.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Electronic Arts from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.24.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc develops, markets, publishes, and distributes games, content, and services for game consoles, PCs, mobile phones, and tablets worldwide. It develops and publishes games and services across various genres, such as sports, racing, first-person shooter, action, role-playing, and simulation primarily under the Battlefield, The Sims, Apex Legends, Need for Speed, and license games from others, including FIFA, Madden NFL, UFC, and Star Wars brands.