American Science & Engineering Inc.
(
ASEI
) is a provider of security and protection services that has been
offering regular quarterly dividend payments for years. This Zacks
#1 Rank (Strong Buy) has a solid 5-year average dividend yield of
1.8%. On November 5, ASEI posted impressive fiscal second quarter
results that included an earnings surprise of 22.6%. For all of
these reasons, American Science & Engineering looks to be a
good stock for investors seeking both growth and income.
Driving Catalysts
ASEI has been offering regular dividend payments to shareholders
since 2007. Recently, it received approval for a quarterly dividend
payment of 50 cents to shareholders on December 3, 2012. The stock
currently yields a solid 3.3% based on an annual dividend rate of
$2.00 per share.
Apart from dividends, earnings per share in its fiscal second
quarter were 76 cents, up 2.7% year over year and above the Zacks
Consensus Estimate of 62 cents. However, revenue fell 15.5% to
roughly $46.3 million.
Earnings Momentum on the Rise
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fiscal year ending March 2013
is currently $2.78 per share, which is up 9% in the past month. The
last 7 days alone have attributed for nearly 7% of that gain.
Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fiscal year ending
March 2014 is $2.81 per share, up 20% in 30 days and 4.4% in 7
days.
Valuation
American Science & Engineering is currently trading at a
forward P/E of 21.3x, compared with 15.4x for the peer group. The
company's ROE stands at 7.9%, versus the peer group average of
3.0%.
As can be observed from the chart below, the last six months have
been favorable for the company as its stock climbed from a $50.00
to $60.00. The outlook seems bright for the stock with estimates
moving higher for the years ahead.
Founded in 1958, American Science & Engineering Inc. is
headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts and is one of the leading
security solutions providers in the U.S. and internationally. The
company designs and sells X-ray inspection and other detection
products, especially designed for homeland security, force
protection, and other critical defense applications. Currently, the
company has a market capitalization of $490 million.
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