Acme United (NYSE:ACU) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Acme United (NYSE:ACU) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Acme United Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE ACU opened at $36.03 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 4.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Acme United has a twelve month low of $24.50 and a twelve month high of $50.99. The company has a market cap of $131.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.51 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.76 and its 200 day moving average is $41.84.

Acme United (NYSE:ACU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Acme United had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 9.67%. The company had revenue of $44.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.50 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Acme United will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acme United Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 2nd. Acme United’s payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Acme United news, COO Brian S. Olschan sold 1,219 shares of Acme United stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total transaction of $49,125.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,656,450.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Acme United news, COO Brian S. Olschan sold 1,219 shares of Acme United stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total transaction of $49,125.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,656,450.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brian S. Olschan sold 7,800 shares of Acme United stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $314,574.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,103 shares in the company, valued at $1,657,683.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,905 shares of company stock valued at $658,194. 34.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Evercore Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Acme United in the 4th quarter worth about $219,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Acme United in the 4th quarter worth about $223,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Acme United by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 14,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 2,204 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Acme United by 71.0% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 26,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 11,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Acme United by 117.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 29,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 16,128 shares in the last quarter. 62.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Acme United

Acme United Corporation supplies cutting, measuring, first aid, and sharpening products to the school, home, office, hardware, sporting goods, and industrial markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company offers scissors, shears, knives, rulers, pencil sharpeners, paper trimmers, safety cutters, lettering products, glue guns, and other craft products under the Westcott brand name; and cutting tools under the Clauss brand.