Amphenol (NYSE:APH) Shares Climb 8.4% – What’s Next?

Shares of Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH) shot up 8.4% during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $81.21 and last traded at $80.8910. 18,946,100 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 10% from the average session volume of 17,165,492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on APH. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on Amphenol from $197.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 target price on Amphenol in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Amphenol from $190.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amphenol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up from $112.00) on shares of Amphenol in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.32.

Amphenol Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $81.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.57. The firm has a market cap of $195.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. Amphenol had a return on equity of 42.53% and a net margin of 17.95%. The company had revenue of $10.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 65.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a drop from Amphenol’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. Amphenol’s payout ratio is 26.09%.

Amphenol announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 28th that allows the company to repurchase $4 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the electronics maker to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Amphenol

In related news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total value of $65,949,028.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,855,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $317,961,554.72. This represents a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphenol

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amphenol in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,927,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Amphenol by 111.0% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 29,268 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,168,000 after acquiring an additional 15,394 shares during the period. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd raised its stake in Amphenol by 132.7% during the first quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd now owns 45,599 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,761,000 after acquiring an additional 26,000 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Amphenol in the first quarter worth about $5,637,000. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Amphenol by 1,118.7% in the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 39,681 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,014,000 after acquiring an additional 36,425 shares during the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Amphenol

Amphenol Corporation designs, manufactures and markets electrical, electronic and fiber-optic connectors, interconnect systems, antennas and sensor products. Its offerings also include cable assemblies and related components used to transmit signals and power in electronic equipment and systems. The company serves customers in a range of markets, including communications and information technology, automotive, aerospace and defense, industrial, mobile devices and data networks. Its products are used in applications such as vehicles, communications infrastructure, commercial aircraft and industrial equipment.