Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Stock

Key Points

• Oppenheimer has raised its price target for Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) from $290.00 to $300.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.03% from the current stock price and maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• Applied Industrial Technologies reported earnings of $2.80 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenue showing a 5.5% year-over-year increase.
• The company has implemented a stock repurchase plan allowing the buyback of 1,500,000 shares, suggesting management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by research analysts at Oppenheimer from $290.00 to $300.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Oppenheimer's target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.39% from the stock's previous close.

AIT has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.86.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIT traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $262.25. The stock had a trading volume of 229,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 409,969. The company has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $252.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 1 year low of $191.31 and a 1 year high of $282.98.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.3% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,103 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 6.6% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,248 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 17.7% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 26.0% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 11.3% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,583 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

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.