Stock Repurchase Plan Approved by Amphenol (NYSE:APH)

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the electronics maker to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Amphenol from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Amphenol from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Amphenol from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Amphenol from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amphenol currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.75.

Amphenol Price Performance

Amphenol stock opened at $116.31 on Thursday. Amphenol has a 12 month low of $72.00 and a 12 month high of $119.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $111.48 and its 200-day moving average is $99.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $69.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.40, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 23.94% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Amphenol will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total transaction of $10,467,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 147,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,391,200.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Amphenol news, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total value of $10,467,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 147,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,391,200.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total value of $2,212,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 305,000 shares of company stock valued at $31,846,050 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Amphenol

Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, primarily designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems.