Air Products Stock Up 21% in 6 Months: What's Driving the Rise?

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.'s APD shares have shot up 21.2% over the past six months. The company has also outperformed its industry's rise of 0.1% over the same time frame. APD has also topped the S&P 500's roughly 9.2% rise over the same period.

Let's take a look into the factors that are driving APD stock.

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APD Gains on High-return Projects & Productivity Actions

Air Products is benefiting from its investments in high-return industrial gas projects and productivity measures. It remains focused on its gasification strategy and is executing its growth projects. These projects are expected to be accretive to earnings and cash flows.

APD is realizing the benefits of the completion of the second phase of the Jazan project in Saudi Arabia. The company has a total available capacity to deploy (over fiscal 2024-2033) $30.8 billion in high-return investments aimed at creating significant shareholder value.

Air Products is also driving productivity to improve its cost structure. It is seeing the positive impacts of its productivity actions. Benefits from additional productivity and cost improvement programs are likely to support its margins moving ahead. The company also remains focused on improving pricing amid an inflationary environment.

The company also remains committed to maximizing returns to shareholders leveraging strong balance sheet and cash flows. Air Products' board, earlier this year, increased its quarterly dividend to $1.77 per share. This marked the 42nd straight year of dividend increase. APD paid roughly $1.5 billion in dividends to shareholders in 2023. It expects to return roughly $1.6 billion to shareholders through dividends in 2024.

APD's adjusted earnings per share of $3.20 for the fiscal third quarter topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.04. It continues to expect fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings per share of $12.20-$12.50, suggesting a 6-9% increase from the previous year.

APD's Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

APD currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are IAMGOLD Corporation IAG, Eldorado Gold Corporation EGO and Hawkins, Inc. HWKN. While IAMGOLD and Eldorado Gold sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Hawkins carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IAMGOLD's current-year earnings has increased by 46.4% in the past 60 days. IAG beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters with the average surprise being 200%. Its shares have shot up roughly 153% in the past year.

The consensus estimate for Eldorado Gold's current year earnings is pegged at $1.40 per share, indicating a year-over-year rise of 145.6%. EGO beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 430.3%. The company's shares have rallied roughly 83% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Hawkins' current fiscal-year earnings is pegged at $4.14, indicating a rise of 15.3% from year-ago levels. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HWKN's current fiscal-year earnings has increased 12.8% in the past 60 days. The stock has rallied around 106% in the past year.

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