Materion (NYSE:MTRN) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Buy" Rating

Key Points

• Materion (NYSE:MTRN) has been upgraded from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen.
• The company's current consensus rating is "Hold" with a price target of $117.00, while it opened at $128.93 on the trading day.
• Recent insider trading included significant share sales by executives, raising questions about their confidence in the stock's future performance.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

MTRN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Materion in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Materion from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Materion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $117.00.

Materion Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MTRN opened at $128.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.16 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 3.17. Materion has a fifty-two week low of $69.10 and a fifty-two week high of $131.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $116.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.74.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $230.20 million during the quarter. Materion had a net margin of 0.94% and a return on equity of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Materion will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Materion news, Director N Mohan Reddy sold 1,155 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.45, for a total value of $121,794.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 $1,091,243.92. This trade represents a 22.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,295 shares of company stock worth $557,392. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Materion

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Materion by 182.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 348 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of Materion in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Materion by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 585 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Materion in the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Materion in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. 93.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Materion

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.

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