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

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, June 28th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of 0.37 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th.

Applied Industrial Technologies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.0% per year 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 14.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Applied Industrial Technologies to earn $10.15 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 14.6%.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE AIT opened at $194.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.70, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 12-month low of $138.38 and a 12-month high of $201.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $190.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.32.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.08. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 23.69%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Applied Industrial Technologies

In related news, VP Jason W. Vasquez sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.71, for a total value of $127,861.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,516,461.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AIT. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of 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 shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $201.00.

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.