Wall Street Zen Upgrades Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) to "Buy"

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AIT stock opened at $226.99 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $227.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.24. The firm has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.93. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 1-year low of $182.21 and a 1-year high of $282.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.51.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,378 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the first quarter valued at approximately $781,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 18.0% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,463 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. 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.

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