Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Position in Alamo Group Inc. (NYSE:ALG)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in shares of Alamo Group Inc. (NYSE:ALG) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.07% of Alamo Group worth $1,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Alamo Group by 442.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 206 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Alamo Group by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alamo Group by 192.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alamo Group during the fourth quarter worth $200,000. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Alamo Group in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ALG shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alamo Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Alamo Group from $219.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered Alamo Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $224.00 to $177.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Baird R W downgraded Alamo Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Industrial Alliance Securities set a $217.00 price target on Alamo Group in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Alamo Group Stock Performance

Shares of ALG opened at $180.66 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19 and a beta of 1.10. Alamo Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.74 and a 52-week high of $227.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 4.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Alamo Group (NYSE:ALG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $385.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.85 million. Alamo Group had a net margin of 7.19% and a return on equity of 12.41%. Equities research analysts predict that Alamo Group Inc. will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alamo Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. This is an increase from Alamo Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 16th. Alamo Group’s payout ratio is presently 12.46%.

About Alamo Group

Alamo Group Inc designs, manufactures, distributes, and services vegetation management and infrastructure maintenance equipment for governmental, industrial, and agricultural uses worldwide. It operates through two segments, Vegetation Management and Industrial Equipment. Its Vegetation Management Division segment offers hydraulically-powered and tractor – and off-road chassis mounted mowers, other cutters and replacement parts for heavy-duty and intensive uses and heavy duty, tractor- and truck-mounted mowing and vegetation maintenance equipment, and replacement parts.