Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $289.29.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on APD shares. Bank of America upped their target price on 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. Citigroup increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays upped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $257.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $260.98 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $265.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $249.71. The company has a market cap of $58.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Air Products and Chemicals has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 63.90%.

Institutional Trading of Air Products and Chemicals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of APD. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 3,740 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $906,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 10,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Air Products and Chemicals

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.