Needham & Company LLC Upgrades Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) to Buy

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) was upgraded by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $145.00 price target on the electronics maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 22.19% from the stock’s previous close.

AEIS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup raised Advanced Energy Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $110.00 to $138.00 in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Advanced Energy Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Advanced Energy Industries from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.78.

Advanced Energy Industries Stock Performance

AEIS opened at $118.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $115.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.20. The company has a quick ratio of 3.32, a current ratio of 4.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Advanced Energy Industries has a 12-month low of $89.11 and a 12-month high of $128.70.

Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ:AEIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 2.91%. The company’s revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Advanced Energy Industries will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Advanced Energy Industries news, Director Lanesha Minnix sold 1,000 shares of Advanced Energy Industries stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.72, for a total value of $111,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $568,878.24. The trade was a 16.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advanced Energy Industries

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEIS. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $182,910,000 after acquiring an additional 199,578 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 22.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 647,682 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $70,442,000 after acquiring an additional 118,328 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries during the third quarter valued at $12,306,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Advanced Energy Industries by 12.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,848 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $50,920,000 after acquiring an additional 53,566 shares during the period. Finally, Sora Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Advanced Energy Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,736,000. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

About Advanced Energy Industries

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.