Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE:AZEK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE:AZEK – Get Rating) by 4,521.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 579,857 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 567,309 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AZEK were worth $11,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AZEK. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of AZEK by 176.1% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in AZEK by 1,441.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 2,379 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AZEK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $117,000. Yarbrough Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AZEK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AZEK during the first quarter valued at approximately $124,000. 99.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AZEK

In related news, insider Jonathan Skelly sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.83, for a total transaction of $476,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 216,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,160,839.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Corporate Opportunities F. Ares sold 7,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.36, for a total value of $170,520,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,326,090 shares in the company, valued at $178,463,552.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan Skelly sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.83, for a total value of $476,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 216,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,160,839.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,080,000 shares of company stock valued at $172,459,210 over the last 90 days. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of AZEK from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of AZEK from $27.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of AZEK from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AZEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of AZEK from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AZEK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.17.

AZEK Price Performance

AZEK stock opened at $23.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 263.44, a PEG ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.59 and its 200 day moving average is $22.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The AZEK Company Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.12 and a 52-week high of $30.26.

AZEK (NYSE:AZEK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $377.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $356.45 million. AZEK had a net margin of 1.02% and a return on equity of 5.49%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The AZEK Company Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AZEK

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The AZEK Company Inc engages in designing, manufacturing, and selling of building products for residential, commercial, and industrial markets in the United States. It operates through two segments: Residential and Commercial. The Residential segment designs and manufactures engineered outdoor living products, which includes decking, railing, trim and molding, siding and cladding, pergolas and cabanas, and accessories under the TimberTech, AZEK Exteriors, VERSATEX, and ULTRALOX brand name.