Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $285.71.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AIT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AIT opened at $248.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.78 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.64. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 1 year low of $163.50 and a 1 year high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.10%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total transaction of $605,176.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $952,326.96. The trade was a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total value of $1,126,560.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 55,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,689,882.76. This trade represents a 6.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the second quarter worth about $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 68.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Company Profile

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.