Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $126.89.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AEIS shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (down previously from $135.00) on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Advanced Energy Industries from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Paul R. Oldham sold 1,173 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.29, for a total transaction of $154,003.17. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,006 shares in the company, valued at $4,070,777.74. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 398.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 460,121 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $53,204,000 after acquiring an additional 18,533 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 99.9% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 25,564 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $2,956,000 after acquiring an additional 12,774 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Advanced Energy Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,971,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,926 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Advanced Energy Industries Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of AEIS stock traded up $2.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $138.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 62,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,969. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $121.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.01. The company has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 71.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a current ratio of 4.43. Advanced Energy Industries has a 52 week low of $75.01 and a 52 week high of $139.29.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The electronics maker reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $404.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $392.36 million. Advanced Energy Industries had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 4.73%. Advanced Energy Industries's revenue was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Advanced Energy Industries will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 26th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Advanced Energy Industries's payout ratio is currently 20.62%.

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.