Insider Buying: Diageo plc (LON:DGE) Insider Buys 339 Shares of Stock

Diageo plc (LON:DGE) insider Javier Ferrán purchased 339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 2,444 ($31.96) per share, for a total transaction of £8,285.16 ($10,834.52).

Diageo Price Performance

Shares of LON:DGE traded down GBX 22 ($0.29) during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching GBX 2,417 ($31.61). 3,396,971 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,994,519. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 2,476.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 2,681.33. Diageo plc has a 1 year low of GBX 2,165.60 ($28.32) and a 1 year high of GBX 3,268.50 ($42.74). The company has a market cap of £53.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,831.54, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 186.26, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Diageo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a yield of 1.92%. This is an increase from Diageo’s previous dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 29th. Diageo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6,106.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on DGE. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,000 ($39.23) target price on shares of Diageo in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Diageo to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from GBX 2,100 ($27.46) to GBX 2,400 ($31.38) in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a GBX 3,200 ($41.85) price objective on shares of Diageo in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 2,800 ($36.62) target price on shares of Diageo in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 3,008 ($39.34).

About Diageo

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. It offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavoured malt beverages. The company also provides Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as ready to drink and non-alcoholic products.