Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.77 (NYSE:APD)

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 17th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of 1.77 per share by the basic materials company on Monday, August 12th. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st.

Air Products and Chemicals has increased its dividend payment by an average of 9.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 49 consecutive years. Air Products and Chemicals has a payout ratio of 52.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Air Products and Chemicals to earn $13.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.3%.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $258.05 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $259.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.83. The stock has a market cap of $57.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Air Products and Chemicals has a 52-week low of $212.24 and a 52-week high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on APD shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.29.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.