Graham Holdings (NYSE:GHC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.72

Graham Holdings (NYSE:GHC) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 23rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 18th will be given a dividend of 1.72 per share on Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 17th.

Graham has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 9 years. Graham has a dividend payout ratio of 14.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Graham Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:GHC opened at $709.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32 and a beta of 1.11. Graham has a twelve month low of $551.36 and a twelve month high of $771.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $727.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $674.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Graham (NYSE:GHC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $10.94 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter. Graham had a return on equity of 5.23% and a net margin of 4.65%.

Insider Transactions at Graham

In other Graham news, Director Katharine Weymouth sold 556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.99, for a total value of $396,422.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,989.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 32.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graham

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Graham by 2.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Graham by 155.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $869,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Graham by 35.5% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 4,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after buying an additional 1,179 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in shares of Graham by 10.5% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its position in shares of Graham by 9.4% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 2,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised Graham from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th.

About Graham

Graham Holdings Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified education and media company in the United States and internationally. It provides test preparation services and materials; professional training and exam preparation for professional certifications and licensures; and non-academic operations support services to the Purdue University Global; operations support services for online courses and programs; training and test preparation services for accounting and financial services professionals; English-language training, academic preparation programs, and test preparation for English proficiency exams; and A-level examination preparation services, as well as operates colleges, business school, higher education institution, and an online learning institution.