Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) Upgraded to “Buy” at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has $138.00 price target on the electronics maker’s stock, up from their previous price target of $110.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.38.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Advanced Energy Industries stock opened at $121.24 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.02. Advanced Energy Industries has a 52-week low of $89.11 and a 52-week high of $124.48. The firm has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.35, a P/E/G ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.62 and a quick ratio of 3.32.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.07. Advanced Energy Industries had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $374.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $372.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Advanced Energy Industries will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Energy Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Advanced Energy Industries’s payout ratio is 35.09%.

Insider Activity at Advanced Energy Industries

In related news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.72, for a total transaction of $111,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,092 shares in the company, valued at $568,878.24. The trade was a 16.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Advanced Energy Industries

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Advanced Energy Industries by 535.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 216 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 12.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,848 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $50,920,000 after purchasing an additional 53,566 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 403,679 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $42,483,000 after purchasing an additional 23,395 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,669 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $702,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Advanced Energy Industries Company Profile

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc provides precision power conversion, measurement, and control solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's plasma power products offer solutions to enable innovation for semiconductor and thin film plasma processes, such as dry etch and deposition.