Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Upgraded to “Buy” by Jefferies Financial Group

by · The Cerbat Gem

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $364.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $295.00.

APD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $313.53.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on APD

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 1.2 %

APD stock opened at $314.09 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $69.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $282.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $264.30. Air Products and Chemicals has a fifty-two week low of $212.24 and a fifty-two week high of $318.32.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. As a group, analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,720,704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,309,040 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 2,931.0% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,796,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $444,352,000 after buying an additional 1,737,260 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $720,597,000 after buying an additional 1,564,169 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,841,000 after acquiring an additional 520,179 shares during the period. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the first quarter worth about $87,173,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.

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