Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Monro, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNRO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Monro, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNRO) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 141,053 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 6,445 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Monro worth $4,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MNRO. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Monro by 3,587.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,139,183 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,292 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Monro by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,606,868 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $46,374,000 after acquiring an additional 273,265 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Monro by 78.9% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 254,900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $6,082,000 after purchasing an additional 112,400 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in Monro by 720.3% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 121,354 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,896,000 after acquiring an additional 106,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in Monro by 434.7% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 104,550 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,017,000 after purchasing an additional 84,996 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MNRO shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Monro in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Monro in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company.

Monro Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MNRO opened at $24.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $734.95 million, a PE ratio of 28.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Monro, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.00 and a 12-month high of $33.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.36.

Monro (NASDAQ:MNRO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $301.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.06 million. Monro had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 4.77%. Monro’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Monro, Inc. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Monro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.74%.

About Monro

Monro, Inc provides automotive undercar repair, and tire sales and services in the United States. It offers replacement tires and tire related services, automotive undercar repair services, and routine maintenance services primarily to passenger cars, light trucks, and vans. The company also provides other products and services for brakes; mufflers and exhaust systems; and steering, drive train, suspension, and wheel alignment.