Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Shares Gap Up to $263.85

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $263.85, but opened at $288.61. Air Products and Chemicals shares last traded at $293.90, with a volume of 207,662 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APD has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, 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 company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 11.4 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $264.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $249.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $65.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 63.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Products and Chemicals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,950 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,213,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 33.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. now owns 16,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,288,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $869,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.