Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Receives $285.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $285.00.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AIT shares. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target (down from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Applied Industrial Technologies stock traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $233.08. The company had a trading volume of 6,331,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 341,520. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $237.81. The company has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.93. Applied Industrial Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $182.21 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.57, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.64% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,156 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,672,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 51.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 130 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

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.