Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) Given “Buy” Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark restated their buy rating on shares of Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $125.00 price objective on the electronics maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on AEIS. StockNews.com raised Advanced Energy Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Advanced Energy Industries in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Baird R W upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.75.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Performance

Shares of AEIS opened at $110.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of 97.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 4.62, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Advanced Energy Industries has a 12-month low of $89.11 and a 12-month high of $120.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.66.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.07. Advanced Energy Industries had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 2.91%. The company had revenue of $374.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $372.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. Advanced Energy Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Advanced Energy Industries will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

Advanced Energy Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Advanced Energy Industries’s payout ratio is 35.09%.

Insider Transactions at Advanced Energy Industries

In other news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 5,092 shares in the company, valued at $568,878.24. This trade represents a 16.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Advanced Energy Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 312 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Advanced Energy Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 68.4% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 157.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 626 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Advanced Energy Industries in the second quarter valued at $87,000. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

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.