Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Air Products and Chemicals has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 17 analysts, with 10 buy ratings, six holds and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is approximately $332.76, above the reported $301.19 share price.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $3.47 in EPS versus the $3.34 consensus, while revenue rose 4.6% year over year to $3.16 billion but came in slightly below estimates.
• Air Products declared a quarterly dividend of $1.81 per share, equivalent to $7.24 annually and a 2.4% yield. Institutional investors own approximately 81.66% of the company’s outstanding shares.

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $332.7647.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $358.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $320.00 price objective on Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD opened at $301.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.07 billion, a PE ratio of -1,369.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.75. The business's fifty day moving average price is $300.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Air Products and Chemicals has a 12-month low of $229.11 and a 12-month high of $314.87.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.13. Air Products and Chemicals had a negative net margin of 0.38% and a positive return on equity of 16.87%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.09 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals will post 13.45 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $1.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $7.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Air Products and Chemicals's dividend payout ratio is currently -3,290.91%.

Institutional Trading of Air Products and Chemicals

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APD. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 27,786.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 72,163,618 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $21,156,930,000 after purchasing an additional 71,904,837 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the second quarter worth approximately $5,370,093,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,792,580 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,160,023,000 after buying an additional 3,922,567 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,904,537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,940,665,000 after buying an additional 137,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,911,504 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,448,340,000 after acquiring an additional 352,012 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is a global supplier of industrial gases and related equipment and services, headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company produces and delivers atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as specialty and process gases used across a wide range of industrial applications. Air Products designs, builds and operates gas production facilities, merchant distribution networks and on-site gas systems for customers that require reliable, high-purity gases and integrated supply solutions.

The company's product and service portfolio includes packaged and bulk gas supply, pipeline distribution, on-site generation, gas handling and storage equipment, and engineered systems for gas liquefaction and purification.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source