Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.50 on July 11th

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 2nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of 1.50 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, July 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%.

Illinois Tool Works has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.1% 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 54.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Illinois Tool Works to earn $11.24 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 53.4%.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Up 1.3 %

ITW stock opened at $242.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. Illinois Tool Works has a twelve month low of $214.66 and a twelve month high of $279.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $245.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.47.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. Illinois Tool Works’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $239.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 48,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total transaction of $13,293,565.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,120,802.68. This represents a 46.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ernest Scott Santi sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.30, for a total transaction of $18,431,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 260,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,516,979.20. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,925 shares of company stock worth $42,973,845. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

About Illinois Tool Works

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.