Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) to Issue Variable Dividend of $1.15

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM - Get Free Report) declared a Variable dividend on Wednesday, November 6th,Zacks Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 1.15 per share by the information services provider on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Autohome's previous Variable dividend of $0.57.

Autohome has raised its dividend by an average of 31.0% per year over the last three years.

Autohome Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ATHM traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $28.85. 403,617 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 474,870. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.18. Autohome has a fifty-two week low of $21.89 and a fifty-two week high of $34.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.46.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The information services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The firm had revenue of $252.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.99 million. Autohome had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 25.81%. As a group, analysts forecast that Autohome will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ATHM shares. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (down from $31.00) on shares of Autohome in a report on Friday, July 19th. Benchmark cut shares of Autohome from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Autohome from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. CLSA lowered Autohome from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Autohome to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.00.

Autohome declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 4th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Autohome

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.