Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY) has increased its quarterly dividend payment to shareholders by 15% and maintained its quarterly distribution for a 55th consecutive year.
The Indianapolis, Indiana-based company that’s known for its weight loss and diabetes medications has declared a second-quarter dividend of $1.50 per share that’s payable to stockholders of record on May 16. The next dividend will be paid on June 10.
The drug maker raised its quarterly distribution by 15% from $1.30 per share that had been paid over the last year. Eli Lilly, which has been a going concern for nearly 150 years, has now paid its dividend for 55 consecutive years. The company has raised its quarterly dividend for 11 consecutive years.
Strong Growth
Eli Lilly is able to maintain and grow its dividend due to robust sales of its blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound and related diabetes medicine Mounjaro. For this year’s first quarter, Eli Lilly reported that its sales rose 45% year-over-year due to strong ongoing demand for Zepbound and Mounjaro.
The company is now working on securing regulatory approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a weight loss pill (Zepbound and Mounjaro are taken via injections). Many analysts forecast that a weight loss pill will be a blockbuster medication for Eli Lilly in the years ahead.
LLY stock is up 3% this year.
Is LLY Stock a Buy?
The stock of Eli Lilly has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation among 19 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 18 Buy and one Sell recommendations issued in the last 12 months. The average LLY price target of $981 implies 24.22% upside from current levels.
