Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) Plans $0.16 Quarterly Dividend

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 4th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of 0.16 per share by the medical instruments supplier on Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st.

Mesa Laboratories has a payout ratio of 6.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Mesa Laboratories to earn $7.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.9%.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MLAB opened at $100.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $543.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 593.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $102.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.03. Mesa Laboratories has a 1-year low of $82.86 and a 1-year high of $187.75.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.01). Mesa Laboratories had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The firm had revenue of $53.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.90 million. Analysts forecast that Mesa Laboratories will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 370,278 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,794,000 after purchasing an additional 7,274 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,698 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 359.8% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,664 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after buying an additional 9,127 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 13,106 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,631 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after buying an additional 4,309 shares during the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday.

About Mesa Laboratories

Mesa Laboratories, Inc develops, manufactures, and sells life sciences tools and quality control products and services in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Clinical Genomics, Sterilization and Disinfection Control, Biopharmaceutical Development, and Calibration Solutions.