Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 344,296 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Sensata Technologies worth $8,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Sensata Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $531,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Sensata Technologies by 83.6% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,554 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sensata Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $334,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sensata Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,130,000. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Sensata Technologies by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,785,385 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $43,331,000 after acquiring an additional 76,794 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.42% of the company’s stock.

Sensata Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of ST stock opened at $31.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.13. Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. has a one year low of $17.32 and a one year high of $42.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.46.

Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $911.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $878.39 million. Sensata Technologies had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Sensata Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. Sensata Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ST has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Sensata Technologies from $27.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Sensata Technologies from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $40.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sensata Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Sensata Technologies from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sensata Technologies from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sensata Technologies

In other news, Director Andrew C. Teich acquired 9,925 shares of Sensata Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.19 per share, for a total transaction of $250,010.75. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,737.23. This trade represents a 31.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

About Sensata Technologies

Sensata Technologies Holding plc develops, manufactures, and sells sensors and sensor-rich solutions, electrical protection components and systems, and other products used in mission-critical systems and applications in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Performance Sensing and Sensing Solutions.