The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,750,000 shares, an increase of 23.3% from the April 30th total of 2,230,000 shares. Approximately 4.4% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 708,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on TKR. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Timken from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Timken from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Timken from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Timken in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Timken from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Timken by 2.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,646,465 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $477,681,000 after acquiring an additional 180,705 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Timken by 7.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,390,125 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $243,648,000 after acquiring an additional 231,435 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Timken by 6.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,367,167 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $170,124,000 after acquiring an additional 133,674 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Timken by 2.4% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,990,929 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $143,088,000 after buying an additional 46,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Timken by 108.8% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,841,828 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $132,372,000 after buying an additional 959,672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.08% of the company's stock.

Timken Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE TKR traded up $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 331,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,860. The company has a current ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Timken has a fifty-two week low of $56.20 and a fifty-two week high of $90.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.40, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.89.

Timken (NYSE:TKR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.03). Timken had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. Timken's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Timken will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Timken Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This is an increase from Timken's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Timken's payout ratio is 30.17%.

Timken Company Profile

The Timken Company designs, manufactures, and sells engineered bearings and industrial motion products, and related services in the United States and internationally. The company's Engineered Bearings segment provides various bearing products, including tapered, spherical, and cylindrical roller bearings; plain bearings, metal-polymer bearings, and rod end bearings; radial, angular, and precision ball bearings; thrust and specialty ball bearings; journal bearings; and housed or mounted bearings.