Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 15,239 Shares of CTS Co. (NYSE:CTS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CTS Co. (NYSE:CTS) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 151,014 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 15,239 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.49% of CTS worth $7,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in CTS by 3.0% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,735,534 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $87,870,000 after buying an additional 50,632 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of CTS by 55.1% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 132,729 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $6,720,000 after purchasing an additional 47,149 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in CTS by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 34,514 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,861 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in CTS by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,040 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CTS by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,805,735 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $131,280,000 after purchasing an additional 33,636 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CTS shares. StockNews.com cut CTS from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank downgraded CTS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

CTS Price Performance

CTS stock opened at $52.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.03. CTS Co. has a 1 year low of $38.49 and a 1 year high of $59.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

CTS (NYSE:CTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $132.42 million for the quarter. CTS had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 11.66%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that CTS Co. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

CTS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. CTS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.25%.

CTS Company Profile

CTS Corporation manufactures and sells sensors, actuators, and connectivity components in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company provides encoders, rotary position sensors, slide potentiometers, industrial and commercial rotary potentiometers. It also provides non-contacting, and contacting pedals; and eBrake pedals.