Scout Investments Inc. Cuts Stake in Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN)

Scout Investments Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,157 shares during the period. Scout Investments Inc.’s holdings in Materion were worth $9,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Trigran Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Materion by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. now owns 687,794 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $89,503,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Materion by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 154,255 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Materion during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Materion during the fourth quarter worth about $16,369,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Materion during the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.56% of the company’s stock.

Materion Price Performance

MTRN traded down $0.67 on Friday, reaching $110.21. 58,308 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 92,304. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62 and a beta of 1.21. Materion Co. has a twelve month low of $92.23 and a twelve month high of $145.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $116.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $385.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.84 million. Materion had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 5.19%. The business’s revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Materion Co. will post 5.84 EPS for the current year.

Materion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Materion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. Materion’s payout ratio is presently 13.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Materion

In other Materion news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.31, for a total value of $226,620.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,043,092.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Emily M. Liggett sold 1,152 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $128,862.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $293,185.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.31, for a total transaction of $226,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,031 shares in the company, valued at $2,043,092.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Materion from $156.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th.

About Materion

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.