Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.08

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given 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% per year over the last three years. Cognex has a dividend payout ratio of 30.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Stock Down 0.3 %

Cognex stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,140,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,276,616. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.95. Cognex has a 1 year low of $34.28 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.00 and a beta of 1.41.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a return on equity of 4.97% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $239.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CGNX. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at $437,950.80. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,950.80. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.