Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Bio-Techne Corp has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, based on coverage from 14 analysts: 9 buy, 1 strong buy, and 4 hold. The average 1-year price target is about $66.77.
• The company recently reported quarterly EPS of $0.53, missing estimates by $0.02, and revenue of $311.42 million, also below expectations. Revenue declined 1.5% year over year.
• Bio-Techne also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 0.7%. The dividend will be paid on May 29 to shareholders of record as of May 18.

Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.7692.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on TECH shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Bio-Techne from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $76.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $49.00 target price on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a research note on Thursday, February 5th.

Bio-Techne Price Performance

TECH stock opened at $48.36 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.54. The company has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.09, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.41. Bio-Techne has a 52-week low of $45.12 and a 52-week high of $72.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.49.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $311.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.11 million. Bio-Techne had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 13.57%. Bio-Techne's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bio-Techne will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Bio-Techne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bio-Techne

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TECH. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the fourth quarter worth $11,468,000. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $1,710,000. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bio-Techne in the third quarter worth $41,425,000. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 69.7% in the third quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 174,677 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $9,717,000 after purchasing an additional 71,739 shares during the period. Finally, Pembroke Management LTD grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 10.9% in the third quarter. Pembroke Management LTD now owns 376,977 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $20,971,000 after purchasing an additional 37,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company's stock.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation NASDAQ: TECH is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.

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