Cognex (CGNX) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. The company offers VisionPro software, a suite of patented vision tools for advanced programming; QuickBuild that allows customers to build vision applications with a graphical, flowchart-based programming interface; and Cognex deep learning vision software. It also provides a range of inspection tasks, including part location, identification, measurement, assembly verification, and robotic guidance; vision sensors for vision applications, such as checking the presence and size of parts; and the In-Sight product line of vision systems and sensors. In addition, the company offers DataMan, an image-based barcode readers and barcode verifiers. It sells its products to automotive, logistics, consumer electronics, medical-related, semiconductor, consumer products, food and beverage, and others, as well as through a network of distributors and integrators. The company was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $27.54 to $28.19
• 50-Day Range: $23.27 to $33.97
• 52-Week Range: $22.67 to $53.13
• Volume: 486,169 shs
• Average Volume: 1.52 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $4.78 billion
• P/E Ratio: 46.17
• Dividend Yield: 1.13%
• Price Target: $40.25
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Cognex Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Cognex scored higher than 97% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 78th out of 654 stocks in the computer and technology sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 4.3 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Cognex has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.50, and is based on 6 buy ratings, 6 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Cognex has been the subject of 11 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 42.62%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Cognex are expected to grow by 42.62% in the coming year, from $0.61 to $0.87 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Cognex is 46.12, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 22.00.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Cognex is 46.12, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Computer and Technology sector average P/E ratio of about 43.46.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Cognex has a P/B Ratio of 3.15. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.86% of the float of Cognex has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Cognex has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.7, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Cognex has recently increased by 28.85%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

Cognex pays a meaningful dividend of 1.17%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Cognex has been increasing its dividend for 10 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Cognex is 47.06%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Cognex will have a dividend payout ratio of 36.78% next year. This indicates that Cognex will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Environmental Score: -2.12

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.86% of the float of Cognex has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Cognex has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.7, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Cognex has recently increased by 28.85%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.59

News Sentiment

Cognex has a news sentiment score of 0.59. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.77 average news sentiment score of Computer and Technology companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 40 news articles for Cognex this week, compared to 9 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 3 people have searched for CGNX on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of 0% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 1 people have added Cognex to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -83% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Cognex insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $222,662.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 1.60% of the stock of Cognex is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

88.12% of the stock of Cognex is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

CGNX Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have CGNX shares performed this year?

Cognex's stock was trading at $35.86 at the start of the year. Since then, CGNX stock has decreased by 21.6% and is now trading at $28.12.
View the best growth stocks for 2025 here.

How were Cognex's earnings last quarter?

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) released its earnings results on Wednesday, February, 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.01. Cognex had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%.
Read the conference call transcript.

When did Cognex's stock split?

Cognex shares split before market open on Monday, December 4th 2017. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, October 30th 2017. The newly created shares were payable to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 1st 2017. An investor that had 100 shares of stock prior to the split would have 200 shares after the split.

Does Cognex have any subsidiaries?

Cognex subsidiaries include ViDi Systems, Webscan Inc, *CHIARO TECHNOLOGIES, Enshape, AQSENSE, AssistWare Technology, Cognex Distribution, and others.

Who are Cognex's major shareholders?

Cognex's top institutional shareholders include Impax Asset Management Group plc (1.43%), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (1.26%), Copeland Capital Management LLC (1.01%) and Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC (0.83%). Insiders that own company stock include Theodor Krantz, Anthony Sun, Dianne M Parrotte, Dennis Fehr, Carl Gerst, Joerg Kuechen and Patrick Alias.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Cognex?

Shares of CGNX stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Cognex own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Cognex investors own include Humana (HUM), American Water Works (AWK), Waste Connections (WCN), Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR), AUO (AUOTY), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH) and The RMR Group (RMR).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 2/12/2025
• Record date for 3/13 Dividend: 2/27/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 3/13 Dividend: 2/27/2025
• Dividend Payable: 3/13/2025
• Today: 5/05/2025
• Record date for 5/29 Dividend: 5/15/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 5/29 Dividend: 5/15/2025
• Dividend Payable: 5/29/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Computer and Technology
• Industry: Process control instruments
• Sub-Industry: Electronic Equipment & Instruments
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:CGNX
• CIK: 851205
• Web: www.cognex.com
• Phone: (508) 650-3000
• Fax: 508-650-3333
• Employees: 2,440
• Year Founded: 1981

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $40.25
• High Stock Price Target: $58.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $26.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +44.6%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.50
• Research Coverage: 14 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $0.68
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 45.62
• Forward P/E Ratio: 45.62
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $106.17 million
• Net Margins: 11.61%
• Pretax Margin: 14.38%
• Return on Equity: 5.65%
• Return on Assets: 4.25%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: N/A
• Current Ratio: 3.62
• Quick Ratio: 2.69

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $919.75 million
• Price / Sales: 5.12
• Cash Flow: $0.58 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 47.75
• Book Value: $8.93 per share
• Price / Book: 3.12

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 169,370,000
• Free Float: 167,997,000
• Market Cap: $4.71 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.45