The Carlyle Group Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.35 (NASDAQ:CG)

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of 0.35 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st.

The Carlyle Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.9% annually over the last three years. The Carlyle Group has a payout ratio of 29.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect The Carlyle Group to earn $4.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.0%.

The Carlyle Group Price Performance

Shares of The Carlyle Group stock traded up $0.74 on Monday, hitting $51.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,989,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,799,539. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.32. The Carlyle Group has a 1 year low of $36.65 and a 1 year high of $57.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.33. The company has a market capitalization of $18.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 178.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.70.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.08). The Carlyle Group had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 24.91%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Carlyle Group will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CG. StockNews.com upgraded The Carlyle Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $54.93.

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group Inc is an investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. Within direct investments, it specializes in management-led/ Leveraged buyouts, privatizations, divestitures, strategic minority equity investments, structured credit, global distressed and corporate opportunities, small and middle market, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, senior debt, mezzanine and leveraged finance, and venture and growth capital financings, seed/startup, early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, mid venture, late venture, PIPES.