Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 36,803 Shares of Embraer S.A. (NYSE:ERJ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Embraer S.A. (NYSE:ERJ) by 17.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 249,562 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,803 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Embraer were worth $6,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Embraer in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Embraer in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Embraer by 221.7% in the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,628 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Embraer during the 2nd quarter valued at about $129,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Embraer by 33.2% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,598 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394 shares in the last quarter. 34.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Embraer Stock Performance

NYSE ERJ opened at $34.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87 and a beta of 1.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $30.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.54. Embraer S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $12.48 and a fifty-two week high of $36.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Embraer (NYSE:ERJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The aerospace company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.20. Embraer had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 5.94%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Embraer S.A. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ERJ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Embraer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Embraer from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Bank of America increased their target price on Embraer from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Embraer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

Embraer Profile

Embraer SA designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aircraft and systems in North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Brazil, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Commercial Aviation; Defense & Security; Executive Aviation; Services & Support; and Other segments. The Commercial Aviation segment designs, develops, manufactures, and sells commercial jets, as well as leases aircraft.