Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Cognex (Nasdaq: CGNX) popped 19% in intraday trading today after trouncing first-quarter expectations and raising its dividend.

So what: Earnings per share of $0.32 rose 45% from the year-ago quarter and came in well ahead of the consensus estimate of $0.25. The company increased its quarterly dividend by 13%, from $0.08 to $0.09 per share -- its third dividend increase within the past year.

Now what: Management made bullish comments about the outlook based on strong demand, expense controls, new products, and new markets.  Based on current estimates, the stock appears attractively valued at a P/E ratio of 19.2 and a forward P/E ratio of 21.1. The bullish outlook could cause EPS estimates to rise, which would reduce the forward P/E ratio.

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