Autohome Inc. Plans Special Dividend of $1.20 (NYSE:ATHM)

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) declared a special dividend on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 1.20 per share by the information services provider on Thursday, February 19th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st.

Autohome has a payout ratio of 88.1% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Research analysts expect Autohome to earn $1.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 93.4%.

Autohome Stock Up 1.5%

ATHM stock traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $25.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 478,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,057. Autohome has a 52 week low of $23.39 and a 52 week high of $32.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 0.09. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Autohome from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Autohome from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Autohome in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Autohome currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $28.00.

Autohome Company Profile

Autohome Inc operates as an online destination for automobile consumers in the People’s Republic of China. The company delivers interactive content and tools to automobile consumers through its three websites, autohome.com.cn, che168.com, and ttpai.cn on PCs, mobile devices, mobile applications, and mini apps.