Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN) Short Interest Update

Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 349,800 shares, a decrease of 21.3% from the April 30th total of 444,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 140,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Materion Price Performance

NYSE:MTRN traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $80.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 85,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 107,257. The business's 50-day moving average is $78.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 278.26 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 3.19. Materion has a 52-week low of $69.10 and a 52-week high of $123.21.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 earnings per share (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 was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Materion will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Materion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This is a positive change from Materion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Materion's dividend payout ratio is 112.00%.

Insider Transactions at Materion

In other Materion news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,076,099.20. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Materion

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Materion by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,154 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Materion by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 7,645 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Materion by 4.0% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,209 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Materion by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 6,505 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Materion by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 35,873 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,547,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.