Acme United Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 (NYSE:ACU)

Acme United Co. (NYSE:ACU) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share on Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th.

Acme United has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.3% annually over the last three years. Acme United has a payout ratio of 26.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Acme United to earn $2.94 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.4%.

Acme United Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ACU stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.72. 20,214 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,516. The stock has a market cap of $152.78 million, a P/E ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.08. Acme United has a 52-week low of $26.32 and a 52-week high of $50.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.79 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Acme United (NYSE:ACU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $55.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.50 million. Acme United had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 10.14%. Equities analysts predict that Acme United will post 2.78 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ACU shares. Singular Research upgraded shares of Acme United from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acme United from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 20th.

Insider Activity at Acme United

In other news, COO Brian S. Olschan sold 3,149 shares of Acme United stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $128,731.12. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,680,290.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 34.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Acme United

Acme United Corporation supplies cutting, measuring, first aid, and sharpening products to the school, home, office, hardware, sporting goods, and industrial markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company offers scissors, shears, knives, rulers, pencil sharpeners, paper trimmers, safety cutters, lettering products, glue guns, and other craft products under the Westcott brand name; and cutting tools under the Clauss brand.