Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Preformed Line Products Company (NASDAQ:PLPC)

Key Points

• Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC has made a new $308,000 investment in Preformed Line Products Company, acquiring 2,200 shares during the first quarter.
• Analysts have upgraded Preformed Line Products from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating a more positive outlook for the stock.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, which represents a 0.5% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 9.35%.

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Preformed Line Products Company (NASDAQ:PLPC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,200 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLPC. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its holdings in Preformed Line Products by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 9,131 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Preformed Line Products by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the technology company's stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Preformed Line Products by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 41,204 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,265,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Preformed Line Products by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,831 shares of the technology company's stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Preformed Line Products by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,325 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,847,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. 41.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Preformed Line Products from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Preformed Line Products Stock Up 3.0%

NASDAQ PLPC traded up $4.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $159.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 101,545. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $154.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.71. Preformed Line Products Company has a twelve month low of $109.01 and a twelve month high of $171.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $782.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.79.

Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ:PLPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $169.60 million for the quarter. Preformed Line Products had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 9.69%.

Preformed Line Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, July 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. Preformed Line Products's payout ratio is currently 9.35%.

About Preformed Line Products

Preformed Line Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures products and systems that are used in the construction and maintenance of overhead, ground-mounted, and underground networks for the energy, telecommunication, cable, data communication, and other industries. The company offers optical ground wire products to support, protect, terminate, and splice transmission and distribution lines, as well as bolted, welded, and compressed connectors for substations; and string hardware products, polymer insulators, wildlife protection, substation fittings, and motion control devices.