Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Robert W. Baird Analyst Says

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) had its price objective boosted by Robert W. Baird from $124.00 to $132.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AEIS. Citigroup raised shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $110.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.44.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEIS opened at $111.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a current ratio of 4.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $98.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.47. Advanced Energy Industries has a fifty-two week low of $75.01 and a fifty-two week high of $132.16.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The electronics maker reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $404.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $392.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Advanced Energy Industries will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Advanced Energy Industries news, COO Eduardo Bernal Acebedo sold 19,309 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,822 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,333.42. This represents a 49.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,600 shares of Advanced Energy Industries stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $451,760.04. The trade was a 31.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Advanced Energy Industries

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 535.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 216 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 354 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 71.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 559 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

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.