Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) was the target of a significant 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 daily trading volume, of 299,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AIT shares. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of 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, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,938,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $327,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. US Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $435,000. Finally, GTS Securities LLC raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:AIT traded up $2.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $232.74. 433,492 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 313,245. Applied Industrial Technologies has a one year low of $177.68 and a one year high of $282.98. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $253.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $242.09. The company has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend 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.