Tennant (NYSE:TNC) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

Tennant (NYSE:TNC) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Separately, Northcoast Research assumed coverage on Tennant in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock.

Tennant Price Performance

Shares of TNC opened at $86.72 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80 and a beta of 1.01. Tennant has a fifty-two week low of $78.57 and a fifty-two week high of $124.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The business’s 50-day moving average is $84.47 and its 200-day moving average is $88.64.

Tennant (NYSE:TNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $328.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.00 million. Tennant had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 6.51%. Equities research analysts expect that Tennant will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tennant declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase 2,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Richard H. Zay sold 7,053 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.58, for a total value of $617,701.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 25,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,256,936.60. This represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tennant

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Tennant by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,394,271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $195,205,000 after buying an additional 12,422 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Tennant by 0.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 684,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $65,707,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Tennant by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 597,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,688,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Tennant by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 462,838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,735,000 after purchasing an additional 272,858 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Tennant by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 436,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,971,000 after purchasing an additional 5,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.33% of the company’s stock.

Tennant Company Profile

Tennant Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets floor cleaning equipment in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers a suite of products, including floor maintenance and cleaning equipment, detergent-free and other sustainable cleaning technologies, aftermarket parts and consumables, equipment maintenance and repair services, and asset management solutions.