Applied Industrial Technologies Gets Price Target Hike Following Q4 Results

KeyBanc analyst Ken Newman raised the price target for Applied Industrial Technologies Inc AIT to $140 from $120 while maintaining the Overweight ratings on the shares.
Newman mentions that the management is taking a rational approach to FY23 guidance given tougher comparisons and macro uncertainty.
However, he views the guidance as likely too conservative given stronger demand momentum QTD and opportunities for potential upside from capital deployment via M&A or share repurchases.
Baird analyst David Manthey downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies to Neutral from Outperform and raised the price target to $129, from $115.
The analyst states that the company reported "excellent" June-quarter results, and initial FY23 guidance also implied an upside to his estimates.
However, Manthey is taking a more cautious view, and following the roughly 30% year-to-date outperformance, he recommends investors take some profits.
AIT yesterday reported fourth-quarter net sales growth of 18.5% year-over-year to $1.1 billion, above the consensus of $977.43 million. EPS was $2.02, beating the consensus of $1.66.
The company also announced a new 1.5 million share repurchase program.
The company provided guidance for FY23; it sees EPS of $6.65 to $7.30 (vs. consensus of $6.61) based on sales growth of 3% to 7% and EBITDA margins of 10.8% to 11.1%.
Price Action: AIT shares closed lower by 4.63% at $113.39 on Friday.

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