Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $126.56.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AEIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Advanced Energy Industries from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $110.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEIS opened at $95.16 on Friday. Advanced Energy Industries has a 12 month low of $89.12 and a 12 month high of $132.16. The company has a quick ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 4.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.48.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The electronics maker reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.03). Advanced Energy Industries had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 8.90%. On average, equities analysts expect that Advanced Energy Industries will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Advanced Energy Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Advanced Energy Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Eduardo Bernal Acebedo sold 19,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.61, for a total value of $2,155,077.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,333.42. This trade represents a 49.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.37, for a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Advanced Energy Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 460,121 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $53,204,000 after purchasing an additional 18,533 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,971,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 139,556 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $16,137,000 after buying an additional 12,860 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Advanced Energy Industries by 192.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 19,405 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after acquiring an additional 12,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 99.9% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 25,564 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,956,000 after acquiring an additional 12,774 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.