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

Acme United Co. (NYSE:ACU) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 17th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th.

Acme United has raised its dividend by an average of 5.3% per year over the last three years. Acme United has a payout ratio of 27.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Performance

NYSE ACU traded down $0.75 on Tuesday, reaching $41.24. 5,848 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,618. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.28 million, a PE ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 0.67. Acme United has a one year low of $32.85 and a one year high of $50.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.32. The company has a current ratio of 4.41, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Acme United (NYSE:ACU) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $48.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.40 million. Acme United had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 10.25%. Analysts expect that Acme United will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.