Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) Short Interest Down 5.6% in March

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,680,000 shares, a decline of 5.6% from the March 15th total of 2,840,000 shares. Currently, 7.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 221,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 12.1 days.

Advanced Energy Industries Price Performance

Shares of AEIS stock opened at $92.43 on Thursday. Advanced Energy Industries has a 1 year low of $81.86 and a 1 year high of $126.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $99.62 and its 200-day moving average is $99.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 5.10, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The electronics maker reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. Advanced Energy Industries had a net margin of 7.75% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The company had revenue of $405.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $407.66 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Advanced Energy Industries will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Advanced Energy Industries’s payout ratio is 11.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AEIS. TheStreet raised shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $108.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advanced Energy Industries

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Advanced Energy Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new stake in Advanced Energy Industries in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 78.2% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries during the third quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 193.5% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 499 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.