Short Interest in Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) Rises By 14.4%

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) was the target of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,540,000 shares, a growth of 14.4% from the October 31st total of 2,220,000 shares. Currently, 6.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 236,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.7 days.

Insider Activity at Advanced Energy Industries

In other news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.72, for a total value of $111,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $568,878.24. This trade represents a 16.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Advanced Energy Industries

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEIS. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 10,752 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank lifted its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 13.4% in the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 983 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 1.7% during the second quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 7,322 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 5.5% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,496 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 68.4% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Advanced Energy Industries Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ AEIS opened at $115.04 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.32, a current ratio of 4.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.31. Advanced Energy Industries has a twelve month low of $89.11 and a twelve month high of $120.81. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.91, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Advanced Energy Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Advanced Energy Industries’s payout ratio is presently 35.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AEIS. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.00.

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.