Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $297.40.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on APD shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $281.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $273.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $60.87 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $256.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. Air Products and Chemicals has a 52-week low of $212.24 and a 52-week high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. On average, analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.90%.

Institutional Trading of Air Products and Chemicals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 167.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,921,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,894,973,000 after acquiring an additional 4,330,471 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $852,288,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2,931.0% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,796,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $444,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737,260 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $720,597,000 after buying an additional 1,564,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,841,000 after buying an additional 520,179 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.