Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) Announces Dividend Increase - $0.23 Per Share

Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.225 per share on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Hillenbrand's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Hillenbrand has raised its dividend by an average of 1.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. Hillenbrand has a dividend payout ratio of 30.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Hillenbrand to earn $3.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.89 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.9%.

Hillenbrand Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE HI traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 369,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,041. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $29.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of -11.02 and a beta of 1.43. Hillenbrand has a 52 week low of $25.11 and a 52 week high of $50.58.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.08. Hillenbrand had a positive return on equity of 14.86% and a negative net margin of 6.63%. The company had revenue of $837.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $793.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Hillenbrand's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Hillenbrand will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hillenbrand from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Hillenbrand in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Hillenbrand from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.

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