Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) to Issue $0.22 Quarterly Dividend

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 2nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.22 per share by the network equipment provider on Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd.

Juniper Networks has increased its dividend by an average of 3.2% annually over the last three years. Juniper Networks has a payout ratio of 40.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Juniper Networks to earn $1.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.7%.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Juniper Networks stock opened at $35.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Juniper Networks has a 12 month low of $33.42 and a 12 month high of $39.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.34.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on JNPR. Argus lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on Juniper Networks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JNPR. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Juniper Networks during the 1st quarter worth $237,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 5,255.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 14,834 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 14,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 861.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 25,507 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $923,000 after acquiring an additional 22,853 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks, Inc designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers.