Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Reaches New 1-Year High at $297.00

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $297.00 and last traded at $295.79, with a volume of 63266 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $292.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on APD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $310.00 to $280.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $281.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.40.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $274.87 and its 200 day moving average is $260.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.82.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 167.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,921,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,894,973,000 after acquiring an additional 4,330,471 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 2,931.0% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,796,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $444,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737,260 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $720,597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,169 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,841,000 after purchasing an additional 520,179 shares during the period. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $87,173,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.