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

Acme United Co. (NYSE:ACU) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 17th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share on Monday, January 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th.

Acme United has increased its dividend by an average of 5.3% per year over the last three years. Acme United has a dividend payout ratio of 27.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Down 1.8 %

Shares of ACU traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.24. The company had a trading volume of 5,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,618. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 4.41. The company has a market capitalization of $154.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.32. Acme United has a 52 week low of $32.85 and a 52 week high of $50.99.

Acme United (NYSE:ACU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $48.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.40 million. Acme United had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 9.70%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Acme United will post 2.78 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Acme United from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st.

Acme United Company Profile

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.