Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in The Gorman-Rupp Company (NYSE:GRC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in The Gorman-Rupp Company (NYSE:GRC) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Gorman-Rupp were worth $422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Gorman-Rupp by 5,461.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Gorman-Rupp during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Gorman-Rupp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $154,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Gorman-Rupp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Gorman-Rupp during the third quarter worth about $235,000. 59.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gorman-Rupp Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GRC opened at $38.44 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.88. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.94. The Gorman-Rupp Company has a fifty-two week low of $30.47 and a fifty-two week high of $43.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Gorman-Rupp (NYSE:GRC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.03). Gorman-Rupp had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 12.79%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Gorman-Rupp Company will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gorman-Rupp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Gorman-Rupp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Gorman-Rupp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

About Gorman-Rupp

The Gorman-Rupp Company designs, manufactures, and sells pumps and pump systems in the United States and internationally. The company’s products include self-priming centrifugal, standard centrifugal, magnetic drive centrifugal, axial and mixed flow, vertical turbine line shaft, submersible, high-pressure booster, rotary gear, diaphragm, bellows, and oscillating pumps.