Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.23 Per Share

Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of 0.225 per share on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Hillenbrand’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Hillenbrand has raised its dividend payment by an average of 1.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 18 years. Hillenbrand has a dividend payout ratio of 30.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Hillenbrand to earn $3.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.2%.

Hillenbrand Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HI opened at $32.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.60. Hillenbrand has a 12-month low of $25.11 and a 12-month high of $50.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.75 and a beta of 1.43.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $837.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $793.38 million. Hillenbrand had a negative net margin of 6.63% and a positive return on equity of 14.86%. Hillenbrand’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hillenbrand will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on HI. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Hillenbrand from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com raised Hillenbrand from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Hillenbrand in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.67.

Hillenbrand Company Profile

Hillenbrand, Inc operates as an industrial company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Process Solutions and Molding Technology Solutions. The Advanced Process Solutions segment designs, engineers, manufactures, markets, and services process and material handling equipment and systems comprising compounding, extrusion, and material handling equipment, equipment system design services, as well as offers mixing technology, ingredient automation, and portion process; and provides screening and separating equipment for various industries, including plastics, food and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, energy, wastewater treatment, forest products, and other general industrials.