KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Materion by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 625,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,876,000 after buying an additional 22,322 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Materion by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 466,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,246,000 after acquiring an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Materion by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 412,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,817,000 after purchasing an additional 8,842 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Materion by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 264,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,124,000 after purchasing an additional 11,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Materion by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 164,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,252,000 after purchasing an additional 7,782 shares during the period. 93.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Materion Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MTRN opened at $73.89 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.57. Materion Co. has a 12-month low of $69.10 and a 12-month high of $129.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 254.78 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.12. Materion had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 0.35%. The company had revenue of $436.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Materion Co. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Materion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Materion’s payout ratio is 186.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Materion news, CFO Shelly Marie Chadwick sold 805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.24, for a total transaction of $81,498.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,481,343.68. This represents a 5.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Materion Profile

Materion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces advanced engineered materials used in semiconductor, industrial, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, consumer electronics, and telecom and data center in the United States, Asia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Performance Materials, Electronic Materials, Precision Optics, and Other.