Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Carpenter Technology Corporation $CRS

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Carpenter Technology Corporation by 29.4%, owning 503,335 shares valued at approximately $91.2 million after purchasing an additional 114,435 shares.
• Research analysts have recently shown a positive outlook on Carpenter Technology, with JPMorgan Chase raising its target price from $245.00 to $305.00 and giving the stock an "overweight" rating.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20, which will be paid to investors on September 4th, reflecting a 0.3% yield based on an annualized payout.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS - Free Report) by 29.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 503,335 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 114,435 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 1.01% of Carpenter Technology worth $91,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Carpenter Technology by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,107,676 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $381,869,000 after purchasing an additional 570,441 shares in the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Carpenter Technology in the 1st quarter valued at $329,727,000. SurgoCap Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Carpenter Technology by 117.6% in the 4th quarter. SurgoCap Partners LP now owns 1,442,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $244,734,000 after purchasing an additional 779,357 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC boosted its stake in shares of Carpenter Technology by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 870,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $147,648,000 after purchasing an additional 210,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Carpenter Technology by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 679,343 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $115,291,000 after purchasing an additional 117,759 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Carpenter Technology

In related news, Director I Martin Inglis sold 5,691 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.54, for a total transaction of $1,391,677.14. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,732 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,646,243.28. This represents a 45.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anastasios John Hart sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.72, for a total transaction of $243,720.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,691 shares of company stock valued at $6,290,207 in the last three months. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Carpenter Technology from $245.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Carpenter Technology from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Carpenter Technology in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Carpenter Technology in a report on Monday, August 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.33.

Carpenter Technology Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE CRS traded up $2.4910 during trading on Friday, hitting $243.8210. The company had a trading volume of 985,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 913,145. The company has a current ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Carpenter Technology Corporation has a one year low of $129.57 and a one year high of $290.84. The company has a market cap of $12.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.44. The company's fifty day moving average is $264.61 and its 200-day moving average is $222.30.

Carpenter Technology (NYSE:CRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.18. Carpenter Technology had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 21.50%. The business had revenue of $755.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $790.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Carpenter Technology Corporation will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Carpenter Technology announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Carpenter Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Carpenter Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.78%.

Carpenter Technology Profile

Carpenter Technology Corporation engages in the manufacture, fabrication, and distribution of specialty metals in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Mexico, Canada, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Specialty Alloys Operations and Performance Engineered Products. The company offers specialty alloys, including titanium alloys, powder metals, stainless steels, alloy steels, and tool steels, as well as additives, and metal powders and parts.