Principal Securities Inc. Has $752,000 Holdings in Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM)

Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,872 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Howmet Aerospace were worth $752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Howmet Aerospace in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Howmet Aerospace during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Howmet Aerospace during the third quarter worth $30,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 90.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Howmet Aerospace from $113.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on Howmet Aerospace from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. KeyCorp lowered Howmet Aerospace from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.28.

Howmet Aerospace Stock Down 0.9 %

Howmet Aerospace stock opened at $138.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $120.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Howmet Aerospace Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.80 and a twelve month high of $140.55. The company has a market capitalization of $55.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.50.

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Howmet Aerospace had a return on equity of 25.74% and a net margin of 15.55%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Howmet Aerospace Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Howmet Aerospace Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. This is a positive change from Howmet Aerospace’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Howmet Aerospace’s payout ratio is 14.18%.

Howmet Aerospace Company Profile

Howmet Aerospace Inc provides advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels.