Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) Rating Increased to Buy at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $145.00 price objective on the electronics maker’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $138.00 in a report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Advanced Energy Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.78.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEIS opened at $125.23 on Tuesday. Advanced Energy Industries has a 1 year low of $89.11 and a 1 year high of $128.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.62 and a quick ratio of 3.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $115.41 and its 200-day moving average is $109.13. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.85, a P/E/G ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.46.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $374.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $372.49 million. Advanced Energy Industries had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 2.91%. The company’s revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Advanced Energy Industries will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. Advanced Energy Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 35.09%.

Insider Transactions at Advanced Energy Industries

In other news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.72, for a total value of $111,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,092 shares in the company, valued at $568,878.24. The trade was a 16.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Advanced Energy Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Advanced Energy Industries by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,699 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $4,209,000 after purchasing an additional 10,243 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 647,682 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $70,442,000 after buying an additional 118,328 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 7.8% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 82,345 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $8,956,000 after buying an additional 5,930 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 13.5% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,681,776 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $182,910,000 after buying an additional 199,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 3.6% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 176,683 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $19,244,000 after acquiring an additional 6,217 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Advanced Energy Industries Company Profile

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.