Materion (NYSE:MTRN) Shares Down 13.9% – Here’s Why

Shares of Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN) were down 13.9% on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $198.78 and last traded at $195.7750. 93,354 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 278,283 shares. The stock had previously closed at $227.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Materion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Materion from $306.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Seaport Research Partners raised Materion from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut Materion from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Materion in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $314.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Materion currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.00.

Materion Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.11 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $313.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.38 million. Materion had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 4.64%. Materion’s quarterly revenue was up 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Materion Corporation will post 7.12 EPS for the current year.

Materion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.1450 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Materion’s payout ratio is 11.89%.

Insider Activity at Materion

In other Materion news, Director Vinod Khilnani sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.16, for a total value of $470,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,171 shares in the company, valued at $2,626,972.36. This trade represents a 15.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Emily Liggett sold 1,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.42, for a total value of $235,209.04. Following the sale, the director owned 3,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $734,679.62. This represents a 24.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTRN. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Materion by 37.5% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 29,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,878,000 after acquiring an additional 7,976 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Materion in the third quarter worth about $256,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Materion by 41.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,839 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in shares of Materion by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 4,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Materion by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 42,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,358,000 after purchasing an additional 12,042 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.56% of the company’s stock.

About Materion

Materion Corporation is an advanced materials company that develops, manufactures and supplies engineered materials for demanding applications. Its product portfolio includes beryllium and beryllium-aluminum alloys, specialty metals, precious-metal and clad materials, thin-film coating materials, optical filters and other precision components.

The company’s materials and products are used in aerospace and defense, semiconductor manufacturing, communications, medical technology, energy, automotive and other industrial markets.