Applied Industrial (AIT) Reports Mixed Q2 Earnings, KeyBanc Maintains Overweight Rating

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) ranks among the mid-cap stocks to buy according to top investors. KeyBanc reduced its price target for Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) to $300 from $310 on January 28, keeping an Overweight rating on the industrial equipment distributor. The drop came after what KeyBanc indicated as “mixed” fiscal second-quarter earnings and a lower EBITDA margin forecast from the company.

The company posted Q2 revenues of $1.16 billion, an 8.4% increase over the previous year, with organic growth adding 2.2%, acquisitions contributing 6%, and currency effects delivering a 0.2% boost. Meanwhile, net income totaled $95.3 million, with earnings per share of $2.51.

KeyBanc noted higher LIFO (Last-In-First-Out) expenses during the quarter alongside volatile December demand trends as the key issues driving market reaction towards the earnings announcement. The firm highlighted that buy-side expectations were likely high ahead of the quarterly results.

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) is a value-added distributor and technical solutions provider of industrial motion, fluid power, flow control, automation technologies, and related maintenance supplies.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.