Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $11.62 Million Stock Holdings in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. $BHE

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) by 21.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207,365 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 37,316 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.58% of Benchmark Electronics worth $11,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Earnest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics during the fourth quarter worth about $74,940,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,688,298 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $103,634,000 after acquiring an additional 338,081 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Benchmark Electronics by 141.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 363,651 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,019,000 after acquiring an additional 213,276 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in Benchmark Electronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,312,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Benchmark Electronics by 56.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 341,457 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,163,000 after purchasing an additional 123,143 shares during the last quarter. 92.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BHE. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Benchmark Electronics from $62.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Benchmark Electronics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Benchmark Electronics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

Benchmark Electronics Stock Performance

Shares of BHE stock opened at $81.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.59 and a 200-day moving average of $68.94. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.47 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Benchmark Electronics, Inc. has a one year low of $34.44 and a one year high of $100.41.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The technology company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. Benchmark Electronics had a net margin of 1.27% and a return on equity of 6.63%. The company had revenue of $677.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $676.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Benchmark Electronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.650-0.710 EPS.

Benchmark Electronics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Benchmark Electronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kenneth T. Lamneck sold 24,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.49, for a total value of $1,977,191.87. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,418 shares in the company, valued at $3,864,092.82. The trade was a 33.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rhonda R. Turner sold 6,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.14, for a total value of $561,924.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 36,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,070,744.38. This represents a 15.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 86,352 shares of company stock worth $7,312,806. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About Benchmark Electronics

Benchmark Electronics, Inc is a global provider of comprehensive electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and integrated engineering solutions. The company offers a full suite of services that span the entire product lifecycle, from early‐stage design and prototyping to high‐volume production and aftermarket support. Benchmark serves diverse end markets, including industrial automation, medical devices, communications, aerospace and defense, and semiconductor equipment.

At the core of Benchmark’s offering are printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA), system integration, box build assemblies and turnkey manufacturing.