Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 18,901 Shares of The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) by 10.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 167,981 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18,901 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Brink’s were worth $17,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BCO. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Brink’s by 154.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brink’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brink’s by 119.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Brink’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in Brink’s in the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. 94.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brink’s Stock Performance

Shares of Brink’s stock opened at $106.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.80 and a beta of 1.43. The Brink’s Company has a 52 week low of $64.15 and a 52 week high of $113.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.19.

Brink’s (NYSE:BCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.20. Brink’s had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 69.80%. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Brink’s Company will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Brink’s Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.2425 per share. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Brink’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BCO. StockNews.com upgraded Brink’s from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Brink’s in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.50.

Brink’s Profile

The Brink's Company provides secure transportation, cash management, and other security-related services in North America, Latin America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers armored vehicle transportation of valuables; automated teller machine (ATM) management services, such as cash replenishment, cash forecasting, cash optimization, ATM remote monitoring, service call dispatching, transaction processing, installation, and first line maintenance services; and cash-in-transit services.