Updating your High-Growth Payers: Abbvie Inc.

Article Excerpt

ABBVIE INC. $120 is a buy. The drugmaker (New York symbol ABBV; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $216.0 billion; Dividend yield: 4.3%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.abbvie.com) makes biopharmaceuticals, with leading positions in immunology, oncology, aesthetics, neuroscience and eye care. The company took its current form on January 3, 2013, when Abbott Laboratories (New York symbol ABT) split into two publicly traded firms. AbbVie has raised its dividend each year since 2013. The latest increase was in February 2021, to $1.30 a share. That’s up 10.2% from $1.18. The new annual rate of $5.20 yields a high 4.3%. In the second quarter, ended June 30, 2021, revenue rose 33.9%, to $13.96 billion from $10.43 billion a year earlier. On a comparable operational basis, revenue during the quarter increased by 19.3%. Humira accounted for 36% of revenue during the quarter. Humira’s revenue increased by 4.8% over last year. Excluding one-time items, AbbVie’s earnings jumped 42.6%, to $5.56…