Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.17

Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 9th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.17 per share by the technology company on Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

Benchmark Electronics has raised its dividend payment by an average of 1.0% per year over the last three years. Benchmark Electronics has a payout ratio of 27.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Benchmark Electronics Stock Performance

BHE opened at $47.47 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $46.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.60 and a beta of 0.99. Benchmark Electronics has a twelve month low of $25.35 and a twelve month high of $52.57.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.03. Benchmark Electronics had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.32%. The company had revenue of $658.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Activity at Benchmark Electronics

In related news, SVP Rhonda R. Turner sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.98, for a total value of $281,880.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 47,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,254,617.18. This represents a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeff Benck sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.90, for a total value of $1,101,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 424,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,469,540.70. This represents a 5.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on BHE shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Benchmark Electronics from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered Benchmark Electronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Benchmark Electronics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.33.

Benchmark Electronics Company Profile

Benchmark Electronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers product design, engineering services, technology solutions, and manufacturing services in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The company provides engineering services and technology solutions, including new product design, prototype, testing, and related engineering services; and custom testing and technology solutions, as well as automation equipment design and build services.