Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price objective for the company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $289.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 0.6 %

APD stock opened at $258.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Air Products and Chemicals has a 52 week low of $212.24 and a 52 week high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 16.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.90%.

Institutional Trading of Air Products and Chemicals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 167.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,921,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,894,973,000 after purchasing an additional 4,330,471 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $852,288,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% in the 1st 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. Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $87,173,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 66.1% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 860,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $207,807,000 after buying an additional 342,322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

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.