Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Shares of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEIS - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $121.07 and last traded at $121.04, with a volume of 67404 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEIS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Advanced Energy Industries from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Baird R W raised shares of Advanced Energy Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America raised shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Advanced Energy Industries in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Advanced Energy Industries from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $120.25.

Advanced Energy Industries Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.65, a PEG ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 4.62, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company's 50 day moving average price is $112.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.12.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.07. Advanced Energy Industries had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $374.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $372.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. The business's revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Advanced Energy Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.33%. Advanced Energy Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Advanced Energy Industries news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.72, for a total transaction of $111,720.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $568,878.24. This represents a 16.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Advanced Energy Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Advanced Energy Industries by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,681,776 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $182,910,000 after buying an additional 199,578 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 22.4% in the second 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 last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries in the third quarter worth $12,306,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 23.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 540,213 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $58,754,000 after buying an additional 102,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries in the second quarter worth $6,873,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.