Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) by 12.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 31,134 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.40% of Shenandoah Telecommunications worth $3,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Shenandoah Telecommunications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 570.2% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 6,244 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 741.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 6,728 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $257,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Shenandoah Telecommunications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BWS Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of SHEN stock opened at $12.46 on Friday. Shenandoah Telecommunications has a twelve month low of $11.87 and a twelve month high of $22.27. The company has a market capitalization of $680.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is an increase from Shenandoah Telecommunications’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.66%. Shenandoah Telecommunications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.57%.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Profile

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of broadband communication services and cell tower colocation space in the Mid-Atlantic portion of the United States. It operates in two segments, Broadband and Tower. The company Broadband segment offers broadband, video, and voice services to residential and commercial customers in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky through hybrid fiber coaxial cable under the Shentel brand; and fiber optic services under the Glo Fiber brand name.