Aurora Investment Counsel Decreases Stake in Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN)

Aurora Investment Counsel lowered its holdings in Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,010 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 495 shares during the quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Materion were worth $490,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MTRN. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Materion by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Materion by 722.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,146 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Materion during the first quarter valued at $212,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Materion by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Materion during the fourth quarter valued at $223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.56% of the company’s stock.

Materion Stock Performance

NYSE:MTRN opened at $86.28 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.58. Materion Corporation has a 52-week low of $69.10 and a 52-week high of $123.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 172.55 and a beta of 0.80.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. Materion had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 0.59%. The business had revenue of $420.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. Materion’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Materion Corporation will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Materion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Materion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Materion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.45, for a total transaction of $160,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 13,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,076,099.20. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Materion in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Materion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th.

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.