One Reason Why Intel (INTC) Stock Is Advancing Today
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Intel (INTC) - Get Report stock is rising 3.43% to $34.30 in afternoon trading on Thursday, after announcing an increase in its quarterly cash dividend.
The company's board approved a 13% dividend hike, by 8 cents per share to $1.04 per share on an annual basis. The increase will begin with the dividend that will be declared in the fiscal 2016 first quarter.
Additionally, Intel announced that it expects revenue growth in the mid-single digits during fiscal 2016.
"Our financials show that Intel's transformation is underway, and we're forecasting growth for 2016," CFO Stacy Smith said in a statement. "The 2016 dividend increase reflects confidence in the strategy and Intel's ongoing commitment to create value and return cash to shareholders."
Based in Santa Clara, CA, Intel is engaged in the design and manufacture of digital technology platforms.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates INTEL CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of A. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:
We rate INTEL CORP (INTC) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, attractive valuation levels, notable return on equity, good cash flow from operations and expanding profit margins. Although no company is perfect, currently we do not see any significant weaknesses which are likely to detract from the generally positive outlook.
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:
- The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.36, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels. To add to this, INTC has a quick ratio of 1.66, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.
- The return on equity has improved slightly when compared to the same quarter one year prior. This can be construed as a modest strength in the organization. Compared to other companies in the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, INTEL CORP has underperformed in comparison with the industry average, but has exceeded that of the S&P 500.
- Net operating cash flow has remained constant at $5,735.00 million with no significant change when compared to the same quarter last year. Along with maintaining stable cash flow from operations, the firm exceeded the industry average cash flow growth rate of -22.28%.
- The gross profit margin for INTEL CORP is currently very high, coming in at 78.24%. Regardless of INTC's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of 21.49% trails the industry average.
- You can view the full analysis from the report here: INTC
Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.