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

Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 19th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.78 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%.

Nordson has raised its dividend by an average of 20.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 62 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 Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:NDSN traded down $3.85 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $208.94. 694,276 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 246,054. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm's fifty day moving average is $251.19 and its 200-day moving average is $245.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.90. Nordson has a 12-month low of $208.82 and a 12-month high of $279.38.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jennifer L. Mcdonough sold 225 shares of Nordson stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.27, for a total transaction of $59,010.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at $862,081.49. This trade represents a 6.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Joseph P. Kelley sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,164,576.82. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,629 shares of company stock worth $914,400. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on NDSN shares. Baird R W lowered Nordson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Nordson from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $237.00 price objective (down previously from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $279.00.

About Nordson

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.