Dean Capital Management Acquires 15,504 Shares of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS)

Dean Capital Management raised its stake in Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) by 77.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,635 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,504 shares during the quarter. Advanced Energy Industries makes up 1.8% of Dean Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Dean Capital Management owned approximately 0.09% of Advanced Energy Industries worth $4,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Advanced Energy Industries by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,318 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. 4D Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $2,602,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Advanced Energy Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $335,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Advanced Energy Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $623,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEIS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (down from $135.00) on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Advanced Energy Industries from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.67.

Advanced Energy Industries Price Performance

AEIS stock opened at $107.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a current ratio of 4.42. Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.01 and a 1 year high of $132.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.12.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The electronics maker reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $404.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $392.36 million. Advanced Energy Industries had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 8.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 26th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. Advanced Energy Industries’s payout ratio is currently 20.62%.

Insider Activity

In other Advanced Energy Industries news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.37, for a total transaction of $206,992.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,492 shares in the company, valued at $451,760.04. This trade represents a 31.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Eduardo Bernal Acebedo sold 19,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.61, for a total value of $2,155,077.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,212,333.42. The trade was a 49.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.