Nordson Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.78 (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 19th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.78 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%.

Nordson has raised its dividend by an average of 20.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 62 consecutive years. Nordson has a payout ratio of 31.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Nordson to earn $11.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.3%.

Nordson Price Performance

Shares of NDSN traded up $2.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $214.85. 17,961 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 243,238. The stock has a market cap of $12.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $252.08 and a 200-day moving average of $245.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.41. Nordson has a 52 week low of $211.29 and a 52 week high of $279.38.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The industrial products company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $744.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $736.83 million. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 17.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Nordson will post 10.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Baird R W cut shares of Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $237.00 price target (down previously from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nordson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nordson news, EVP Jennifer L. Mcdonough sold 225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.27, for a total transaction of $59,010.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,287 shares in the company, valued at $862,081.49. The trade was a 6.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Joseph P. Kelley sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.98, for a total value of $749,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,164,576.82. The trade was a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,629 shares of company stock valued at $914,400 over the last three months. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nordson Company Profile

Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures, and markets products and systems to dispense, apply, and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial Precision Solutions; Medical and Fluid Solutions; and Advanced Technology Solutions.