Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 35,266 Shares of Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,099,104 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,266 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Gates Industrial were worth $22,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Gates Industrial by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 20,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gates Industrial by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Gates Industrial by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Gates Industrial by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort L.P. raised its stake in shares of Gates Industrial by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fort L.P. now owns 14,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Gates Industrial Stock Performance

NYSE:GTES opened at $22.29 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.53 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Gates Industrial Corp PLC has a twelve month low of $14.14 and a twelve month high of $23.85.

Gates Industrial (NYSE:GTES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.33. Gates Industrial had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 5.72%. On average, analysts anticipate that Gates Industrial Corp PLC will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GTES has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on Gates Industrial from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Gates Industrial from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Gates Industrial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Gates Industrial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Gates Industrial from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.90.

About Gates Industrial

Gates Industrial Corporation PLC designs and manufactures power transmission equipment. Its products serves harsh and hazardous industries such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing and energy, to everyday consumer applications such as printers, power washers, automatic doors and vacuum cleaners and virtually every form of transportation.