Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Stock Has Average Price Target of $333.88 According to Brokerages

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $333.88.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on APD shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $360.00 to $346.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $373.00 price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on 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. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Friday, July 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Products and Chemicals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.9% in the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Virginia Estate & Retirement Planning Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Virginia Estate & Retirement Planning Advisors Inc. now owns 111 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,053 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

APD stock opened at $316.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $70.45 billion, a PE ratio of -1,438.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day moving average of $294.27 and a 200-day moving average of $289.73. Air Products and Chemicals has a 12-month low of $229.11 and a 12-month high of $316.64.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a positive return on equity of 16.87% and a negative net margin of 0.38%. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals will post 13.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $7.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 4th. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is currently -3,290.91%.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is a global industrial gas and related equipment company serving customers in industries such as refining, chemicals, manufacturing, metals, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, and energy. The company supplies atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, specialty gases and other industrial gases.

Air Products produces and distributes gases through pipelines, on-site facilities, bulk deliveries and packaged-gas systems.