Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Price Target Raised to $335.00

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) had its target price raised by Citigroup from $312.00 to $335.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on APD. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $340.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $373.00 target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $335.59.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $315.02 on Monday. Air Products and Chemicals has a 1-year low of $229.11 and a 1-year high of $324.00. The company has a market cap of $70.15 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $295.22 and a 200-day moving average of $291.67.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 4.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 4th will be given a dividend of $1.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 4th. This represents a $7.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 304.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Products and Chemicals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 277.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,161,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,597,451,000 after buying an additional 28,050,956 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the second quarter valued at about $5,370,093,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 14.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,443,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,290,801,000 after buying an additional 556,188 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 326.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,348,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $927,010,000 after buying an additional 2,563,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aristotle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.5% in the first quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $779,665,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

Air Products and Chemicals is an industrial gases company that supplies gases, related equipment and services to businesses and institutions. Its products include atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases. The company serves a range of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, food and healthcare. Its offerings support industrial processes and applications such as gas production and distribution, materials processing and process technology.