Becker Capital Management Inc. Invests $15.55 Million in The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR)

Becker Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 217,878 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $15,550,000. Becker Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Timken at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Timken by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,981 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Timken by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 848 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Timken by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 5,856 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Timken by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,857 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Timken by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,373 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,502,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. 89.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Timken Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TKR traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $67.46. 277,162 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 554,844. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 3.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $68.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.55. The Timken Company has a 52 week low of $56.20 and a 52 week high of $93.66.

Timken (NYSE:TKR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.03). Timken had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Timken Company will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Timken Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. This is an increase from Timken's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Timken's payout ratio is 30.17%.

Insider Transactions at Timken

In other Timken news, CFO Philip D. Fracassa sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.50, for a total transaction of $407,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,541 shares in the company, valued at $7,379,091.50. This represents a 5.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 8.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Timken from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Timken from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Timken in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Timken from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Timken from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $78.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Timken has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.70.

About Timken

The Timken Company designs, manufactures, and sells engineered bearings and industrial motion products, and related services in the United States and internationally. The company's Engineered Bearings segment provides various bearing products, including tapered, spherical, and cylindrical roller bearings; plain bearings, metal-polymer bearings, and rod end bearings; radial, angular, and precision ball bearings; thrust and specialty ball bearings; journal bearings; and housed or mounted bearings.