Advanced Energy Industries’ (AEIS) Buy Rating Reiterated at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their buy rating on shares of Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $130.00 target price on the electronics maker’s stock, down from their previous target price of $135.00.

AEIS has been the subject of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup upgraded Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Advanced Energy Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.44.

Advanced Energy Industries Trading Up 2.8 %

AEIS opened at $111.29 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.83, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 4.42, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $98.68 and its 200-day moving average is $110.14. Advanced Energy Industries has a 1-year low of $75.01 and a 1-year high of $132.16.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The electronics maker reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $404.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $392.36 million. Advanced Energy Industries had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 8.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Advanced Energy Industries will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Energy Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Saturday, May 24th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Advanced Energy Industries’s payout ratio is currently 27.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Advanced Energy Industries

In other news, COO Eduardo Bernal Acebedo sold 19,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.61, for a total value of $2,155,077.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,333.42. This represents a 49.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.37, for a total value of $206,992.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,492 shares in the company, valued at $451,760.04. This represents a 31.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Advanced Energy Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 535.3% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 216 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 354 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Advanced Energy Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 71.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 559 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Advanced Energy Industries

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.