Phocas Financial Corp. Has $5.84 Million Stock Holdings in Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN)

Key Points

• Phocas Financial Corp. reduced its stake in Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN) by 5.5%, selling 4,164 shares and retaining 71,526 shares, valued at approximately $5.84 million.
• Recent insider activity includes VP Gregory R. Chemnitz selling 2,000 shares at $80.45 each, reducing his ownership by 13.01%.
• Materion has been upgraded to an "overweight" rating by KeyCorp, with a new price target of $112.00, amidst mixed analyst reports regarding its stock outlook.

Phocas Financial Corp. lowered its holdings in Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN - Free Report) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,526 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,164 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. owned about 0.34% of Materion worth $5,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MTRN. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Materion by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,838,484 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $181,789,000 after purchasing an additional 257,637 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Materion by 66,993.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 175,114 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $14,289,000 after acquiring an additional 174,853 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Materion during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,037,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Materion by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 673,007 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $54,917,000 after purchasing an additional 47,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Materion by 290.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 57,907 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,726,000 after acquiring an additional 43,083 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.56% of the company's stock.

Materion Price Performance

Materion stock traded up $0.99 during trading on Thursday, reaching $110.13. The company had a trading volume of 75,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 149,680. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $86.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.56. Materion Corporation has a 1-year low of $69.10 and a 1-year high of $123.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 3.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 137.11 and a beta of 0.85.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.19. Materion had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 0.94%. The company had revenue of $431.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. Materion's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Materion Corporation will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Materion Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Materion's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Materion

In other Materion news, CAO Melissa A. Fashinpaur sold 1,140 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.34, for a total transaction of $120,087.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.17, for a total transaction of $315,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 10,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,091,243.92. This trade represents a 22.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MTRN. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Materion from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $112.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Materion from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd.

Materion Company Profile

Materion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces advanced engineered materials used in semiconductor, industrial, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, consumer electronics, and telecom and data center in the United States, Asia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Performance Materials, Electronic Materials, Precision Optics, and Other.