Acme United (NYSE:ACU) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Acme United (NYSE:ACU) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

Separately, Singular Research raised Acme United from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th.

Acme United Stock Up 1.5 %

ACU stock opened at $41.19 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $150.84 million, a PE ratio of 8.58 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.94. Acme United has a 52 week low of $29.41 and a 52 week high of $50.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Acme United (NYSE:ACU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $48.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.40 million. Acme United had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 10.14%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Acme United will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Acme United Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Acme United’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ACU. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Acme United by 9.2% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Acme United by 8.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 142,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,713,000 after acquiring an additional 10,675 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Acme United by 117.3% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 29,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 16,128 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Acme United by 71.0% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 26,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 11,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in Acme United by 4.4% in the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.10% of the company’s stock.

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.