Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Receives $291.43 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $284.29.

AIT has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AIT. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,537,000 after buying an additional 45,224 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $32,233,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $3,591,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 126.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 2,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $230.26 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $249.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $243.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 3.76. The stock has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $177.68 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.64%.

Applied Industrial Technologies Company Profile

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc distributes industrial motion, power, control, and automation technology solutions in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates in two segments, Service Center Based Distribution, and Engineered Solutions. The company distributes bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control solutions, advanced automation products, industrial rubber products, linear motion components, automation solutions, tools, safety products, oilfield supplies, and other industrial and maintenance supplies; and motors, belting, drives, couplings, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components, filtration supplies, valves, fittings, process instrumentation, actuators, and hoses, filtration supplies, as well as other related supplies for general operational needs of customers' machinery and equipment.