Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.37 (NYSE:AIT)

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of 0.37 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th.

Applied Industrial Technologies has increased its dividend by an average of 3.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Applied Industrial Technologies has a payout ratio of 14.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Applied Industrial Technologies to earn $9.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.2%.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:AIT opened at $178.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $122.24 and a fifty-two week high of $201.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 2.59 and a current ratio of 3.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $190.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.31.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.08. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 24.59% and a net margin of 8.39%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $235.00 price target for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $201.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.34, for a total value of $364,680.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 57,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,642.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc distributes industrial motion, power, control, and automation technology solutions in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates in two segments, Service Center Based Distribution, and Engineered Solutions. The company distributes bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control solutions, advanced automation products, industrial rubber products, linear motion components, automation solutions, tools, safety products, oilfield supplies, and other industrial and maintenance supplies; and motors, belting, drives, couplings, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components, filtration supplies, valves, fittings, process instrumentation, actuators, and hoses, filtration supplies, as well as other related supplies for general operational needs of customers' machinery and equipment.