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

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) was the target of a significant 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. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 299,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.43.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 33.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 4.0 %

NYSE:AIT opened at $240.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $253.60 and a 200-day moving average of $241.90. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 52 week low of $177.68 and a 52 week high of $282.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. Analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 18.64%.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

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.