Dividend stocks: Lower ATM demand weighs on Diebold’s earnings

Diebold Inc., symbol DBD on New York, is a leading maker of automated teller machines (ATMs). It also makes safes, vaults and building-security systems. Diebold recently raised its quarterly dividend by 3.7%, to $0.28 a share from $0.27. The dividend stock’s new annual rate of $1.12 yields 3.5%. The company has raised its dividend each year for the past 58 years. The company earned $2.5 million, or $0.04 a share, in the three months ended March 31, 2011. That’s down sharply from $24.9 million, or $0.37 a share, a year earlier. If you exclude costs related to the dividend stock’s restructuring and other one-time items, earnings per share fell 32.4%, to $0.23 from $0.34. Revenues fell 0.8%, to $614.2 million from $619.0 million a year earlier. Revenue from selling services (60% of total revenue) rose 0.9%, while hardware sales (40% of total revenue) fell 3.1%. Growth in the Americas was more than offset by declines in other regions. You can get our clear buy/sell/hold advice on Diebold and dozens of other U.S. companies (including high dividend stocks) when you subscribe to Wall Street Stock Forecaster. What’s more, you can get the latest issue absolutely free. Click here to learn how.