Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 126,422 Shares of The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE:AZEK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE:AZEK) by 93.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,942 shares of the company’s stock after selling 126,422 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AZEK were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBRA Capital Ltd acquired a new position in AZEK in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,442,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AZEK in the first quarter valued at approximately $402,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AZEK by 2.3% in the first quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 186,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,098,000 after buying an additional 4,190 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in AZEK by 52.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 424,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,748,000 after buying an additional 145,849 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in AZEK in the first quarter valued at approximately $795,000. 97.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AZEK. Raymond James Financial set a $51.50 target price on AZEK in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Baird R W cut AZEK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays increased their target price on AZEK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of AZEK in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $51.50 price target (down from $61.00) on shares of AZEK in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.93.

AZEK Price Performance

AZEK stock opened at $54.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.45. The company has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.28 and a beta of 1.82. The AZEK Company Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.48 and a fifty-two week high of $54.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.47 and a 200-day moving average of $49.29.

AZEK (NYSE:AZEK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $452.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.75 million. AZEK had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 9.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The AZEK Company Inc. will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AZEK

In other news, CEO Jesse G. Singh sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total transaction of $1,028,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 852,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,832,121. This represents a 2.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

AZEK Profile

The AZEK Company Inc engages in the design, manufacturing, and selling of building products for residential, commercial, and industrial markets in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: Residential and Commercial. The Residential segment designs and manufactures engineered outdoor living products, such as decking, railing, trim and molding, siding and cladding, pergolas and cabanas, and accessories under the TimberTech, AZEK Exteriors, VERSATEX, ULTRALOX, StruXure, and INTEX brands.