Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Announces $0.46 Quarterly Dividend

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, June 25th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.46 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%.

Applied Industrial Technologies has a dividend payout ratio of 17.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Applied Industrial Technologies to earn $10.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.1%.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AIT stock opened at $225.04 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $228.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.51. Applied Industrial Technologies has a one year low of $182.21 and a one year high of $282.98. The firm has a market cap of $8.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.93.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 8.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase 1,500,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 381,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,897,000 after acquiring an additional 14,926 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 12.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 98,348 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,162,000 after acquiring an additional 10,863 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the first quarter worth about $318,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Company Profile

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc distributes industrial motion, power, control, and automation technology solutions in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates in two segments, Service Center Based Distribution, and Engineered Solutions. The company distributes bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control solutions, advanced automation products, industrial rubber products, linear motion components, automation solutions, tools, safety products, oilfield supplies, and other industrial and maintenance supplies; and motors, belting, drives, couplings, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components, filtration supplies, valves, fittings, process instrumentation, actuators, and hoses, filtration supplies, as well as other related supplies for general operational needs of customers' machinery and equipment.