Yahoo Finance Is Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Potentially Undervalued?
Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT), is not the largest company out there, but it saw a significant share price rise of over 20% in the past couple of months on the NYSE. As a well-established company, which tends to be well-covered by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the company’s outlook is already priced into the stock. However, what if the stock is still a bargain? Let’s take a look at Applied Industrial Technologies’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists.
View our latest analysis for Applied Industrial Technologies
What's The Opportunity In Applied Industrial Technologies?
According to my price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that Applied Industrial Technologies’s ratio of 18x is trading slightly above its industry peers’ ratio of 13.06x, which means if you buy Applied Industrial Technologies today, you’d be paying a relatively sensible price for it. And if you believe Applied Industrial Technologies should be trading in this range, then there isn’t really any room for the share price grow beyond the levels of other industry peers over the long-term. So, is there another chance to buy low in the future? Given that Applied Industrial Technologies’s share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us an opportunity to buy later on. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.
What does the future of Applied Industrial Technologies look like?
Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to grow by a double-digit 12% in the upcoming year, the short-term outlook is positive for Applied Industrial Technologies. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.
What This Means For You
Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has already priced in AIT’s positive outlook, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at AIT? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?
Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on AIT, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for AIT, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
Diving deeper into the forecasts for Applied Industrial Technologies mentioned earlier will help you understand how analysts view the stock going forward. So feel free to check out our free graph representing analyst forecasts.
If you are no longer interested in Applied Industrial Technologies, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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