Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $284.29.

Several brokerages have recently commented on AIT. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AIT opened at $220.85 on Friday. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 52-week low of $177.68 and a 52-week high of $282.98. The stock has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $238.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter worth about $227,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 39.8% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 29,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,513 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 96.7% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 45,224 shares in the last quarter. 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.