Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Friday.

AEIS has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (down previously from $135.00) on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.89.

Advanced Energy Industries Price Performance

Advanced Energy Industries stock opened at $132.31 on Friday. Advanced Energy Industries has a 52-week low of $75.01 and a 52-week high of $135.96. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.20, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 3.28, a current ratio of 4.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $116.05 and its 200 day moving average is $112.30.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The business had revenue of $404.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $392.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Advanced Energy Industries will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Energy Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Advanced Energy Industries’s payout ratio is 20.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Advanced Energy Industries news, EVP Paul R. Oldham sold 1,173 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.29, for a total transaction of $154,003.17. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,006 shares in the company, valued at $4,070,777.74. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 446 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 29,565 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,818,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,857 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,590 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.