Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.50

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 2nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of 1.50 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, October 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Illinois Tool Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40.

Illinois Tool Works has raised its dividend by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 55 years. Illinois Tool Works has a payout ratio of 55.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Illinois Tool Works to earn $10.74 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.9%.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $263.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.10. Illinois Tool Works has a 1-year low of $217.50 and a 1-year high of $271.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $247.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.16.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 99.74% and a net margin of 19.15%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ITW. Argus raised shares of Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $268.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays reduced their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $217.00 to $215.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $251.00 to $246.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $250.22.

Illinois Tool Works Company Profile

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment in the United States and internationally. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products.