Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD Stock: PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Raises Stake

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 5,658 shares during the quarter. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators’ holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $30,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nikulski Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 3rd quarter worth $205,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System purchased a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the third quarter worth $3,707,000. NBH Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 298.1% during the third quarter. NBH Bank now owns 637 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Letson Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 44.0% during the third quarter. Letson Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,126 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 10.8% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on APD shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $353.00 to $346.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $336.00 to $305.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $346.00 to $359.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $312.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $335.59.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

NYSE APD opened at $316.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.78, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.67. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $229.11 and a 1-year high of $324.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $295.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.94.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $3.61. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 4.10%. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.81 per share. This represents a $7.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 4th. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 304.20%.

About Air Products and Chemicals

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.