Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Grows Position in Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN) by 83.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 442,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 201,835 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned 2.13% of Materion worth $58,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in shares of Materion by 529.0% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Materion during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Materion by 285.6% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 428 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Materion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in shares of Materion by 189.6% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 93.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Materion Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MTRN traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $105.54. 3,183 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 101,470. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 2.91. Materion Co. has a 12-month low of $92.23 and a 12-month high of $145.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $111.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32 and a beta of 1.19.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.02). Materion had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 5.19%. The firm had revenue of $385.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Materion Co. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Materion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were paid a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Materion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. Materion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.53%.

Insider Activity at Materion

In other news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.31, for a total value of $226,620.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,043,092.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Materion news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of Materion stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.31, for a total value of $226,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,092.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Emily M. Liggett sold 1,152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total transaction of $128,862.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,185.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, KeyCorp decreased their target price on Materion from $156.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th.

About Materion

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.