Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Standex International Co. (NYSE:SXI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Standex International Co. (NYSE:SXI) by 4.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 59,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,842 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Standex International were worth $10,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Standex International by 24.6% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 460,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,092,000 after buying an additional 90,770 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Standex International in the second quarter worth about $4,299,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Standex International by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 486,099 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,849,000 after purchasing an additional 23,786 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Standex International in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,523,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Standex International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,821,000. 90.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SXI shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Standex International in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Standex International from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Standex International news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 1,661 shares of Standex International stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.41, for a total transaction of $349,491.01. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,405,196.71. The trade was a 12.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ademir Sarcevic sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.81, for a total transaction of $319,696.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,763.66. This trade represents a 8.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,061 shares of company stock worth $1,359,419 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Standex International Trading Down 1.8 %

SXI stock opened at $189.23 on Monday. Standex International Co. has a 52-week low of $140.04 and a 52-week high of $212.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.02, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.47.

Standex International (NYSE:SXI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.05. Standex International had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 10.26%. The business had revenue of $170.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Standex International Co. will post 7.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standex International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Standex International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Standex International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.98%.

Standex International Profile

Standex International Corporation, together with subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of various products and services for commercial and industrial markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through five segments: Electronics, Engraving, Scientific, Engineering Technologies, and Specialty Solutions.