Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) Given “Hold” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports.

AEIS has been the subject of several other research reports. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Advanced Energy Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Advanced Energy Industries in a report on Thursday, August 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.75.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AEIS opened at $110.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.48. Advanced Energy Industries has a twelve month low of $89.11 and a twelve month high of $120.81. The company has a current ratio of 4.62, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $107.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.66.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $374.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $372.49 million. Advanced Energy Industries had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Advanced Energy Industries will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Advanced Energy Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $111,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $568,878.24. The trade was a 16.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Advanced Energy Industries

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AEIS. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 200.0% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 312 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Advanced Energy Industries during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 68.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 157.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 626 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries in the 2nd quarter worth about $87,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.