Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Price Target Raised to $300.00 at Robert W. Baird

Key Points

• Analysts at Robert W. Baird have raised the price target for Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) from $265 to $300, indicating a potential upside of 11.61% from the previous close.
• The stock has been rated with an average of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $288.57, with seven analysts issuing a buy rating.
• Applied Industrial Technologies recently reported earnings of $2.80 per share, surpassing estimates, and announced a stock buyback plan allowing the repurchase of up to 1,500,000 shares, suggesting management believes the stock is undervalued.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company's stock.

AIT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $287.86.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of AIT traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $262.25. The stock had a trading volume of 229,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 409,314. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 1-year low of $191.31 and a 1-year high of $282.98. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $252.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $240.27. The company has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 3.32 and a quick ratio of 2.36.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.20. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.64 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Industrial Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.000-10.75 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AIT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $107,228,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 452.6% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 436,565 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $98,376,000 after buying an additional 357,568 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth about $81,722,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 34,002.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 318,180 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $716,990,000 after buying an additional 317,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 1st quarter worth about $67,365,000. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by 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.