Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 31st

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 1.50 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, January 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

Illinois Tool Works has raised its dividend by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 55 years. Illinois Tool Works has a payout ratio of 56.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Illinois Tool Works to earn $10.69 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 56.1%.

Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.6 %

ITW opened at $254.08 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. Illinois Tool Works has a one year low of $221.82 and a one year high of $271.15. The company has a market cap of $75.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $253.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $247.39.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ITW shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $251.00 to $246.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $217.00 to $215.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.44.

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.