VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.81 on August 27th

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of 0.81 per share by the information services provider on Thursday, August 27th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th.

VeriSign has a payout ratio of 34.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect VeriSign to earn $10.71 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 30.3%.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $284.24 on Monday. VeriSign has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The company has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $273.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.65.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $328.75.

About VeriSign

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.