Healthcare Services Group Inc.’s (HCSG) board of directors hiked its quarterly dividend to 17.625 cents per share compared with 17.50 cents per share paid earlier. The new dividend will be payable on Mar 27, 2015 to shareholders on record as of Feb 20.
The quarterly dividend is equivalent to an annual dividend of 70.5 cents per share, up by 0.71% of the dividend paid previously. The new dividend will yield approximately 2.23% annually.
Healthcare Services has a consistent record of raising payouts. Its last dividend hike was on Oct 14, 2014, when it approved a quarterly cash dividend of 17.50 cents per share, marking an increase of 12 cents from the previous dividend. Notably, the company had declared its first dividend hike in 2004 and had increased the payout by 32.8% to 1.58 cents per share. Such dividend hikes reflect the company’s intention to return more profit to shareholders.
The dividend increase represents the forty-seventh consecutive quarterly cash dividend payment and also marks the forty-sixth consecutive increase since 2003 when Healthcare Services declared its first quarterly cash dividend. This further reflects the company’s strong liquidity position. This initiative not only retains investors’ confidence in the stock but also attracts new investors.
Healthcare Services is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter and 2014 results on Feb 3, 2015. Our proven model does not conclusively show that Healthcare Services is likely to beat earnings this quarter.This is because the stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%, the combination of which makes surprise prediction difficult.
Other Stocks to Consider
Better-ranked players in the same space include comScore, Inc. (SCOR), ExamWorks Group, Inc. (EXAM) and Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. (OMEX). All these stocks hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Be the first to comment