Barclays upgrades Air Products to Overweight after shareholder vote

Barclays upgraded Air Products (APD) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $365, up from $315, after shareholders elected a new board of directors, including three of four nominees by Mantle Ridge. The shareholder vote “helps turn the page back to the core business, which should drive compounding stock returns,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. Barclays says the company’s new executives are “highly capable” in identifying and fixing the backlog, governance, and leadership concerns by investors. It believes a “rejuvenated” Air Products should help the broader industrial gas industry, but it still prefers shares of Linde (LIN).