Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Short Interest Up 34.1% in February

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 989,400 shares, an increase of 34.1% from the January 31st total of 738,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 299,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.43.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AIT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $129,690,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter worth about $84,139,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 199.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 309,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,145,000 after buying an additional 206,220 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter worth about $32,233,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 404,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,934,000 after buying an additional 134,975 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE AIT opened at $232.74 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $253.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.03. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 1-year low of $177.68 and a 1-year high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 18.64%.

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.