Amphenol (NYSE:APH) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at Vertical Research

Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of Amphenol (NYSE:APH) in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $65.00 price objective on the electronics maker’s stock.

APH has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Amphenol from $45.00 to $57.50 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Amphenol to a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a hold rating on shares of Amphenol in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Amphenol from $68.00 to $74.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Amphenol from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $65.35.

Amphenol Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE APH opened at $61.76 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.39. The company has a market cap of $74.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Amphenol has a 12-month low of $39.34 and a 12-month high of $70.84.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.39 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 23.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Amphenol will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.91%.

Amphenol announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the electronics maker to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Amphenol

In related news, insider Luc Walter sold 230,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $15,541,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 397,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,844,209.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amphenol

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Amphenol by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,459,971 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $8,473,608,000 after purchasing an additional 321,861 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 92.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 36,637,988 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,468,301,000 after acquiring an additional 17,552,921 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,224,036 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,601,694,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979,022 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,212,184 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,309,724,000 after acquiring an additional 67,091 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Amphenol during the 4th quarter valued at $1,078,167,000. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Amphenol

Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, primarily designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems.