Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $97.41, but opened at $110.26. Advanced Energy Industries shares last traded at $110.00, with a volume of 71,149 shares.

The electronics maker reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.26. Advanced Energy Industries had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 3.66%. The firm had revenue of $404.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $392.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Saturday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Advanced Energy Industries’s payout ratio is 27.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on AEIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $138.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price (down previously from $135.00) on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Advanced Energy Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Eduardo Bernal Acebedo sold 19,309 shares of Advanced Energy Industries stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.61, for a total transaction of $2,155,077.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,333.42. The trade was a 49.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.37, for a total value of $206,992.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,760.04. This represents a 31.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEIS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 460,121 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $53,204,000 after purchasing an additional 18,533 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,971,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 139,556 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $16,137,000 after purchasing an additional 12,860 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 192.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 19,405 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after buying an additional 12,773 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Advanced Energy Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $487,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 4.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.15.

About Advanced Energy Industries

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc provides precision power conversion, measurement, and control solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's plasma power products offer solutions to enable innovation for semiconductor and thin film plasma processes, such as dry etch and deposition.