Brokerages Set Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) Target Price at $126.56

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $125.22.

A number of analysts have commented on AEIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price 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. Citigroup upgraded 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $136.00 to $124.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Advanced Energy Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday.

Advanced Energy Industries Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of AEIS stock opened at $98.89 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $100.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.32. Advanced Energy Industries has a 1-year low of $75.01 and a 1-year high of $132.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 69.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 4.42 and a quick ratio of 3.27.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The electronics maker reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.03). Advanced Energy Industries had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 3.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Advanced Energy Industries will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Saturday, May 24th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Advanced Energy Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Advanced Energy Industries

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

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.