VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) to Issue $0.81 Quarterly Dividend

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.81 per share by the information services provider on Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th.

VeriSign has a dividend payout ratio of 34.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect VeriSign to earn $10.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.9%.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $276.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.44 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $310.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $245.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $246.93.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that VeriSign will post 9.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.00.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.