Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Sunday morning.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 1.3%

AIT opened at $234.95 on Friday. Applied Industrial Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $182.21 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $228.09 and its 200 day moving average is $238.69. The stock has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.93.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.64% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.47%.

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AIT. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 111.1% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 97.5% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

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.