Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Increases Dividend to $0.08 Per Share

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.08 per share by the scientific and technical instruments company on Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08.

Cognex has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.2% annually over the last three years. Cognex has a payout ratio of 30.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Cognex to earn $0.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.7%.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $40.46 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.95. Cognex has a one year low of $34.28 and a one year high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.76 and a beta of 1.41.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $234.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.86 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 4.97% and a net margin of 9.29%. On average, analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at $437,950.80. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Vertical Research initiated coverage on Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

Cognex Company Profile

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.