DA Davidson Issues Pessimistic Estimate for Cognex Earnings

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) – Investment analysts at DA Davidson reduced their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Cognex in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson analyst M. Summerville now anticipates that the scientific and technical instruments company will post earnings per share of $0.39 for the year, down from their previous estimate of $0.47. DA Davidson currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Cognex’s current full-year earnings is $0.43 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Cognex’s FY2025 earnings at $0.67 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CGNX. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Vertical Research started coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.91.

Cognex Trading Up 6.9 %

CGNX opened at $42.60 on Thursday. Cognex has a 12 month low of $34.79 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.99. The company has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.92 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 11.3% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 18.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,977 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,871 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in Cognex by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Company Profile

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.