Barclays, a prominent financial institution, has initiated coverage on Organon (NYSE: OGN), the global healthcare company, with an enthusiastic Overweight recommendation. In their assessment, the bank has set a one-year price target of $31.62 for Organon, signifying a potential increase of 70.18% from the company’s most recent closing price of $18.58. Notably, various price forecasts for Organon’s stock range from a conservative low of $23.23 to an optimistic high of $45.15.
Looking at Organon’s financial outlook, the company anticipates an annual revenue projection of $6,376 million, indicating a growth rate of 3.37%. Moreover, Organon forecasts a non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of 4.89. Investors also benefit from Organon’s commitment to shareholder value, with a regular quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share ($1.12 annualized) declared on August 8, 2023. This dividend was disbursed to shareholders of record as of August 18, 2023, on September 14, 2023.
As of now, Organon’s stock is trading at $18.58 per share, delivering an attractive dividend yield of 6.03%. It’s noteworthy that over the past five years, the average dividend yield has stood at 4.33%, with fluctuations between a low of 2.95% and a high of 6.87%. The current dividend yield significantly exceeds this historical average by approximately 1.64 standard deviations.
However, investors should be mindful that approximately 38% of Organon’s earnings are distributed as dividends, as evident from the company’s dividend payout ratio of 0.38. Despite the appealing yield, Organon has not raised its dividend in the past three years.
Institutional ownership of Organon encompasses 1,274 funds and institutions, representing a decrease of roughly 6.19% or 84 owners in the last quarter. Additionally, the total shares held by institutions have declined by approximately 3.02% to 229,416,000 shares over the past three months. The put/call ratio for Organon currently stands at 1.12, suggesting a bearish sentiment among investors.
Among the notable institutional shareholders, Mawer Investment Management holds a significant stake with 13,194,000 shares, equating to 5.16% ownership of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services maintains ownership of 8,844,000 shares, accounting for 3.46% of Organon. Invesco, with 8,277,000 shares, represents 3.24% ownership. Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares and Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund Investor Shares hold 7,930,000 and 6,585,000 shares, respectively, in Organon.