Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Lowered to "Sell" at StockNews.com

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on APD. Argus cut Air Products and Chemicals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet cut Air Products and Chemicals from a "b" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group cut Air Products and Chemicals from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $328.00 to $241.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $270.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $276.36.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE APD traded down $4.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $231.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,520,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,299,674. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The business's fifty day moving average is $234.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.96. Air Products and Chemicals has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $307.71. The company has a market cap of $51.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.00 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 18.82%. The business's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dover Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 1,894 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 1,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 180 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 5,261 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Columbia Trust Co 01012016 boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 5,502 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company's stock.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.