Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Short Interest Up 34.1% in February

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 989,400 shares, an increase of 34.1% from the January 31st total of 738,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 299,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,938,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $327,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. US Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $435,000. Finally, GTS Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AIT shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 4.0 %

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $240.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The company has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies has a one year low of $177.68 and a one year high of $282.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $253.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $241.90.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.64%.

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.