Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Upgraded at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays upgraded Air Products and Chemicals to “strong buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $334.71.
• APD shares opened at $292.42 and rose 1.2%; the company reported quarterly EPS of $3.47, beating estimates of $3.34, while revenue of $3.16 billion fell slightly short of expectations.
• Institutional investors own 81.66% of the stock, with several funds recently increasing their positions in Air Products and Chemicals.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Barclays to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on APD. Mizuho lifted their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $373.00 price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $320.00 target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $334.71.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.2%

Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $292.42 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $293.21. The company has a market cap of $65.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,329.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.76. Air Products and Chemicals has a 52-week low of $229.11 and a 52-week high of $314.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a negative net margin of 0.38% and a positive return on equity of 16.87%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.09 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.390-13.490 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.550-3.650 EPS. Analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals will post 13.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. S&CO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,733,000. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1,457.1% during the 3rd quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 28,806 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,851,000 after acquiring an additional 26,956 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 66.7% during the third quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 24,538 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,761,000 after acquiring an additional 9,817 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 26.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 57,052 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $16,573,000 after acquiring an additional 12,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 7.0% during the second quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 65,322 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $19,151,000 after acquiring an additional 4,279 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is a global industrial gases and related equipment company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as process and specialty gases including hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and syngas.

Air Products serves customers in a range of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, food and beverage, healthcare and energy. Its offerings include gases delivered through pipelines, bulk and packaged distribution, and on-site production systems, along with gas-processing equipment and technologies used in applications such as hydrogen production, natural gas liquefaction and carbon capture.

Founded in 1940, Air Products operates across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other international markets.

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