Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

by · The Markets Daily

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $364.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $295.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 17.28% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $309.18.

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Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

APD stock opened at $310.36 on Monday. Air Products and Chemicals has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $313.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $68.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $281.61 and its 200-day moving average is $263.79.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. Equities research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Products and Chemicals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APD. Saxon Interests Inc. grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 13.3% during the third quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 4,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.7% during the third quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 1,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 14,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,375,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC raised its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 22.5% during the third quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 38.8% in the third quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 1,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

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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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