KeyCorp Lowers Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Price Target to $275.00

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) had its price objective trimmed by KeyCorp from $325.00 to $275.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 1.1 %

AIT stock opened at $227.14 on Monday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $250.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.58. The company has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 data 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%. On average, research 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 given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after acquiring an additional 45,224 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at $32,233,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at $3,591,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 202,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,540,000 after acquiring an additional 9,667 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

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.