Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.46 Per Share

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.46 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37.

Applied Industrial Technologies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Applied Industrial Technologies has a payout ratio of 13.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Applied Industrial Technologies to earn $10.59 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 14.0%.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $263.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.88, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.78, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 12 month low of $176.32 and a 12 month high of $282.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $257.49 and its 200-day moving average is $232.96.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.77 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total value of $605,176.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total transaction of $1,126,560.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 55,709 shares in the company, valued at $15,689,882.76. The trade was a 6.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AIT shares. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp increased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Loop Capital increased their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Company Profile

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.