Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $315.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $285.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on AIT. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James increased their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.57.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AIT stock opened at $275.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.03. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 52 week low of $156.50 and a 52 week high of $282.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $243.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.78.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.11. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 15.10%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AIT. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter worth $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.