Materion (NYSE:MTRN) Shares Down 2%

Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN) was down 2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $134.71 and last traded at $136.16. Approximately 17,886 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 92,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $139.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Materion from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th.

Materion Trading Down 5.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.68.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $421.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $420.50 million. Materion had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 13.49%. The company’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Materion Co. will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Materion Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Materion’s payout ratio is 11.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.74, for a total value of $401,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,510 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,567.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Shelly Marie Chadwick sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total transaction of $265,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,147 shares in the company, valued at $1,743,292.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.74, for a total transaction of $401,220.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,940,567.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Materion

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Materion during the fourth quarter worth about $31,311,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in Materion during the third quarter worth about $20,614,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Materion by 21.3% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,030,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,375,000 after buying an additional 181,087 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Materion during the fourth quarter worth about $14,780,000. Finally, Mountaineer Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in Materion during the fourth quarter worth about $13,768,000. 93.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.