Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) Upgraded at Needham & Company LLC

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) was upgraded by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $145.00 price objective on the electronics maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.60% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on AEIS. StockNews.com upgraded Advanced Energy Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.78.

Advanced Energy Industries Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEIS opened at $121.24 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $115.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.62 and a quick ratio of 3.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.35, a PEG ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.46. Advanced Energy Industries has a one year low of $89.11 and a one year high of $124.48.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.07. Advanced Energy Industries had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 2.91%. The business had revenue of $374.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $372.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Advanced Energy Industries will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Advanced Energy Industries

In other news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,000 shares of Advanced Energy Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.72, for a total value of $111,720.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $568,878.24. This trade represents a 16.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Advanced Energy Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,681,776 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $182,910,000 after purchasing an additional 199,578 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 22.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 647,682 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $70,442,000 after buying an additional 118,328 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in Advanced Energy Industries in the third quarter worth about $12,306,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 12.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,848 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $50,920,000 after buying an additional 53,566 shares during the period. Finally, Sora Investors LLC bought a new stake in Advanced Energy Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,736,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

About Advanced Energy Industries

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc provides precision power conversion, measurement, and control solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's plasma power products offer solutions to enable innovation for semiconductor and thin film plasma processes, such as dry etch and deposition.