Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 2,957 Shares of Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 101,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,957 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Materion were worth $10,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Materion by 2.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 252,985 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,299,000 after purchasing an additional 5,944 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Materion by 38.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 61,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,867,000 after purchasing an additional 16,904 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Materion by 69.6% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 47,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,310,000 after purchasing an additional 19,483 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Materion by 307.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Materion by 38.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,792 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.56% of the company’s stock.

Materion Stock Performance

NYSE MTRN opened at $91.34 on Friday. Materion Co. has a 1 year low of $89.56 and a 1 year high of $139.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 314.97 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.16.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.12. Materion had a net margin of 0.35% and a return on equity of 12.42%. The business had revenue of $436.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Materion Co. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Materion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Materion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 186.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Shelly Marie Chadwick sold 805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.24, for a total transaction of $81,498.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,481,343.68. This trade represents a 5.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Materion 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.