Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shareholders Set to Receive $30.00 Special Dividend

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) announced a special dividend on Tuesday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be paid a dividend of $30.00 per share by the retailer on Friday, December 4th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 24th.

Costco Wholesale has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 22 years. Costco Wholesale has a dividend payout ratio of 29.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Costco Wholesale to earn $24.94 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.6%.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.1%

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $11.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $1,077.44. The stock had a trading volume of 478,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,202,735. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $957.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $973.36. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $844.06 and a 52 week high of $1,096.50. The stock has a market cap of $477.45 billion, a PE ratio of 51.88, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 24th. The retailer reported $6.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $95.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.97 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 3.04% and a return on equity of 27.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.87 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 22.70 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on COST. Roth Capital reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $781.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,091.00 to $1,079.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, October 30th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,091.84.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates membership-based warehouse clubs that offer a broad selection of merchandise at generally low prices. Its products include groceries, fresh foods, appliances, electronics, apparel, furniture, and household goods, as well as its Kirkland Signature private-label line. The company also provides services such as gasoline stations, pharmacies, optical and hearing-aid centers, food courts, and travel offerings. Costco serves members through warehouses and online channels.