Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Tennant (NYSE:TNC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Tennant (NYSE:TNC) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Tennant were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Tennant by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 684,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $65,707,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Tennant by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 436,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,971,000 after acquiring an additional 5,862 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Tennant by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 259,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,117,000 after acquiring an additional 5,890 shares during the period. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Tennant by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 127,774 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,417,000 after acquiring an additional 16,934 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Tennant by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,261,000 after buying an additional 3,518 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Tennant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on Tennant in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company.

Tennant Stock Performance

Tennant stock opened at $84.53 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $85.12 and a 200-day moving average of $87.77. Tennant has a 52 week low of $78.57 and a 52 week high of $124.11.

Tennant (NYSE:TNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.13. Tennant had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 6.51%. The firm had revenue of $328.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.00 million. On average, analysts expect that Tennant will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tennant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Tennant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.94%.

Tennant announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase 2,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Richard H. Zay sold 7,053 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.58, for a total transaction of $617,701.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,770 shares in the company, valued at $2,256,936.60. This trade represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Barb Balinski sold 1,717 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.42, for a total value of $148,383.14. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,022,262.18. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Tennant

Tennant Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets floor cleaning equipment in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers a suite of products, including floor maintenance and cleaning equipment, detergent-free and other sustainable cleaning technologies, aftermarket parts and consumables, equipment maintenance and repair services, and asset management solutions.