DA Davidson Issues Pessimistic Estimate for Cognex Earnings

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) – Investment analysts at DA Davidson lowered their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of Cognex in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 19th. DA Davidson analyst M. Summerville now anticipates that the scientific and technical instruments company will post earnings per share of $0.61 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $0.67. The consensus estimate for Cognex’s current full-year earnings is $0.62 per share.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. HSBC downgraded shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

Cognex Stock Performance

Cognex stock opened at $33.40 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.43 and its 200-day moving average is $38.77. Cognex has a 1 year low of $32.41 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.75 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 123.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.