Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN) Shares Bought by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN - Free Report) by 240.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,120 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,028 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC's holdings in Materion were worth $704,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Materion by 269.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 436 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Materion by 54.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 882 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Materion by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,347 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Materion in the fourth quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Materion by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,154 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. 93.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Materion

In other Materion news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of Materion stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.45, for a total value of $160,900.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,076,099.20. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Materion in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Materion Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:MTRN traded up $0.83 during trading on Thursday, hitting $79.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 107,348. Materion Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.10 and a fifty-two week high of $123.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 3.19. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 276.36 and a beta of 0.85.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $420.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $396.83 million. Materion had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 0.35%. Materion's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Materion Co. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Materion Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This is a boost from Materion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Materion's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.00%.

Materion 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.