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

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of 0.37 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th.

Applied Industrial Technologies has increased its dividend by an average of 3.0% 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 14.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Applied Industrial Technologies to earn $9.72 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 15.2%.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AIT stock remained flat at $178.94 on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 5,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 333,180. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 3.74 and a quick ratio of 2.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 52-week low of $122.24 and a 52-week high of $201.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.03 and a 200 day moving average of $175.31.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 24.59% and a net margin of 8.39%. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AIT shares. Oppenheimer started coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $235.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.34, for a total value of $364,680.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 57,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,421,642.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.