Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,780,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the December 15th total of 2,620,000 shares. Currently, 7.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 228,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 12.2 days.

Advanced Energy Industries Price Performance

Shares of AEIS traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $121.16. The company had a trading volume of 173,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 194,063. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a current ratio of 4.62. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $116.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.78. Advanced Energy Industries has a 1-year low of $89.11 and a 1-year high of $128.70.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $374.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $372.49 million. Advanced Energy Industries had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Advanced Energy Industries will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Advanced Energy Industries's payout ratio is presently 35.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.72, for a total value of $111,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at $568,878.24. This represents a 16.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Advanced Energy Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 13.5% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,681,776 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $182,910,000 after purchasing an additional 199,578 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 647,682 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $70,442,000 after buying an additional 118,328 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $12,306,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 12.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,848 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $50,920,000 after buying an additional 53,566 shares during the period. Finally, Sora Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries during the third quarter worth about $4,736,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AEIS. Bank of America raised Advanced Energy Industries from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upgraded Advanced Energy Industries from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $110.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Advanced Energy Industries from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $126.89.

Advanced Energy Industries Company Profile

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc provides precision power conversion, measurement, and control solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's plasma power products offer solutions to enable innovation for semiconductor and thin film plasma processes, such as dry etch and deposition.