Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $340.88.

APD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $365.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 7.0 %

NYSE:APD opened at $263.35 on Friday. Air Products and Chemicals has a 1-year low of $227.53 and a 1-year high of $341.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $308.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $309.11.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is presently 41.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Products and Chemicals

In related news, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total value of $1,419,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,502,560.58. This trade represents a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $616,896.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,173,204. This represents a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $4,842,604 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Products and Chemicals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,231,560,000 after purchasing an additional 207,404 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 6,663,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,932,581,000 after buying an additional 64,960 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 129.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,429,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,574,670,000 after buying an additional 3,062,157 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,430,354,000 after acquiring an additional 57,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mantle Ridge LP acquired a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter worth $1,191,344,000. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

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.