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

Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Hillenbrand’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Hillenbrand has increased its dividend by an average of 1.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. Hillenbrand has a dividend payout ratio of 30.2% meaning 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 Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of HI traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $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. Hillenbrand has a 52 week low of $25.11 and a 52 week high of $50.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of -11.02 and a beta of 1.43.

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $837.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $793.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Hillenbrand will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hillenbrand from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Hillenbrand from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Hillenbrand in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.