Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,369 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Materion worth $8,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Materion by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Materion by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 264,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,124,000 after purchasing an additional 11,212 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Materion by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Materion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,399,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Materion by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 51,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.56% of the company’s stock.

Materion Stock Down 1.4%

MTRN stock opened at $84.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 169.89 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.58. Materion Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $69.10 and a fifty-two week high of $123.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.01. Materion had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 0.59%. The company had revenue of $420.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $396.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Materion Corporation will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Materion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. This is an increase from Materion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Materion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MTRN. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Materion in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Materion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th.

Insider Transactions at Materion

In related news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.45, for a total transaction of $160,900.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 13,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,076,099.20. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Materion Company Profile

Materion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces advanced engineered materials used in semiconductor, industrial, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, consumer electronics, and telecom and data center in the United States, Asia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Performance Materials, Electronic Materials, Precision Optics, and Other.