AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Hits New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $145.02 and last traded at $153.24, with a volume of 2616554 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Trading Up 2.6 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.82. The company has a market capitalization of $36.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. AMETEK’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 226.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in AMETEK by 51.6% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,509,000 after purchasing an additional 4,974 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,675 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 81.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 121,084 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,791,000 after purchasing an additional 54,434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Company Profile

AMETEK, Inc manufactures and sells electronic instruments and electromechanical devices in the North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, and internationally. The company's EIG segment offers advanced instruments for the process, aerospace, power, and industrial markets; process and analytical instruments for the oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, automation, and food and beverage industries; instruments to the laboratory equipment, ultra-precision manufacturing, medical, and test and measurement markets; power quality monitoring and c devices, uninterruptible power supplies, programmable power and electromagnetic compatibility test equipment, and sensors for gas turbines and dashboard instruments; heavy trucks, instrumentation, and controls for the food and beverage industries; and aircraft and engine sensors, power supplies, embedded computing, monitoring, fuel and fluid measurement, and data acquisition systems for aerospace and defense industry.