Needham & Company LLC Upgrades Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) to Buy

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) was upgraded by Needham & Company LLC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $145.00 price target on the electronics maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 22.19% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $110.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.78.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Down 5.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEIS opened at $118.67 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $115.63 and a 200-day moving average of $109.20. Advanced Energy Industries has a one year low of $89.11 and a one year high of $128.70. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.10, a P/E/G ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.62 and a quick ratio of 3.32.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.07. Advanced Energy Industries had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The business had revenue of $374.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $372.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. Advanced Energy Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Advanced Energy Industries will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.72, for a total transaction of $111,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $568,878.24. The trade was a 16.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advanced Energy Industries

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 36.0% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,699 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $4,209,000 after purchasing an additional 10,243 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 22.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 647,682 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $70,442,000 after purchasing an additional 118,328 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 7.8% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 82,345 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $8,956,000 after purchasing an additional 5,930 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 13.5% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,681,776 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $182,910,000 after purchasing an additional 199,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 3.6% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 176,683 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $19,244,000 after purchasing an additional 6,217 shares during 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.