Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $340.00 to $350.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Air Products and Chemicals traded as high as $332.43 and last traded at $330.94, with a volume of 145632 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.10.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $310.00 to $280.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $295.00 to $364.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $308.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.82.

Institutional Trading of Air Products and Chemicals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APD. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,720,704,000 after buying an additional 4,309,040 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 2,931.0% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,796,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $444,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,737,260 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $720,597,000 after buying an additional 1,564,169 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,841,000 after buying an additional 520,179 shares during the period. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC bought a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the 1st quarter valued at about $87,173,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $73.71 billion, a PE ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.55.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. Equities analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 EPS for the current year.

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.