Zacks Research Has Optimistic Outlook of AIT Q1 Earnings

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for Applied Industrial Technologies in a report issued on Monday, March 10th. Zacks Research analyst S. Roy now expects that the industrial products company will earn $2.47 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.46. The consensus estimate for Applied Industrial Technologies’ current full-year earnings is $9.90 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Applied Industrial Technologies’ Q2 2026 earnings at $2.58 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.76 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.86 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $10.67 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $2.70 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $2.73 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $11.49 EPS.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AIT. StockNews.com cut Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AIT opened at $226.02 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Industrial Technologies has a twelve month low of $177.68 and a twelve month high of $282.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $251.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.91. The stock has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,672,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc distributes industrial motion, power, control, and automation technology solutions in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates in two segments, Service Center Based Distribution, and Engineered Solutions. The company distributes bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control solutions, advanced automation products, industrial rubber products, linear motion components, automation solutions, tools, safety products, oilfield supplies, and other industrial and maintenance supplies; and motors, belting, drives, couplings, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components, filtration supplies, valves, fittings, process instrumentation, actuators, and hoses, filtration supplies, as well as other related supplies for general operational needs of customers' machinery and equipment.