American Vanguard Co. (AVD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.03 on July 10th

American Vanguard Co. (NYSE:AVD) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 6th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.03 per share by the basic materials company on Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 26th.

American Vanguard has raised its dividend by an average of 44.2% per year over the last three years. American Vanguard has a dividend payout ratio of 12.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect American Vanguard to earn $0.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.8%.

American Vanguard Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE AVD opened at $8.79 on Monday. American Vanguard has a one year low of $8.41 and a one year high of $18.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $9.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.03 million, a PE ratio of 33.81 and a beta of 0.95.

American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. American Vanguard had a return on equity of 2.20% and a net margin of 1.22%. The firm had revenue of $135.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Vanguard will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Vanguard news, insider Ulrich Trogele bought 18,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $159,250.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 209,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,836,415. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ulrich Trogele acquired 18,200 shares of American Vanguard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $159,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 209,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,836,415. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven D. Macicek acquired 8,500 shares of American Vanguard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.01 per share, for a total transaction of $76,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,496.44. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 10.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on American Vanguard from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on American Vanguard from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered American Vanguard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

About American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection.