Amphenol (NYSE:APH) to Repurchase $2.00 billion in Shares

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the electronics maker to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on APH. UBS Group upped their price target on Amphenol from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Amphenol from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Amphenol in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.75.

Amphenol Stock Performance

NYSE APH traded up $2.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $116.31. 7,624,930 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,853,614. The company has a market cap of $69.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. Amphenol has a 12-month low of $72.00 and a 12-month high of $119.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $111.48 and a 200 day moving average of $99.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 23.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amphenol will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Amphenol’s payout ratio is currently 28.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amphenol news, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total transaction of $17,595,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total transaction of $10,467,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 147,045 shares in the company, valued at $15,391,200.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total transaction of $17,595,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 305,000 shares of company stock worth $31,846,050. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Amphenol

Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, primarily designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems.