Wall Street Zen Upgrades Materion (NYSE:MTRN) to Buy

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

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

Materion Price Performance

Shares of MTRN opened at $85.59 on Friday. Materion has a fifty-two week low of $69.10 and a fifty-two week high of $123.21. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $79.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.33. The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 171.18 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. Materion had a net margin of 0.59% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm had revenue of $420.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Materion will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Materion news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.45, for a total transaction of $160,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 13,376 shares in the company, valued at $1,076,099.20. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTRN. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Materion by 30.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Materion by 269.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 436 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Materion by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 264,197 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,124,000 after acquiring an additional 11,212 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Materion by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,874 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Materion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,399,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.56% of the company's stock.

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.

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