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

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of 0.46 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37.

Applied Industrial Technologies has increased its dividend by an average of 3.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Applied Industrial Technologies has a payout ratio of 13.9% meaning 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

Shares of AIT stock opened at $261.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $257.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.80. Applied Industrial Technologies has a one year low of $176.32 and a one year high of $282.98. The firm has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.78 and a quick ratio of 2.74.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total transaction of $1,126,560.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,689,882.76. This represents a 6.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AIT. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James raised their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.71.

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.