Squarepoint Ops LLC Purchases 5,028 Shares of Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN)

Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN) by 240.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,120 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,028 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Materion were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Materion in the fourth quarter worth $415,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Materion in the fourth quarter worth $10,399,000. Choreo LLC bought a new position in shares of Materion during the fourth quarter valued at $315,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Materion by 356.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 34,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,902,000 after acquiring an additional 27,244 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Materion by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 625,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,876,000 after acquiring an additional 22,322 shares during the period. 93.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Materion Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE MTRN opened at $75.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 259.24 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.53. Materion Co. 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 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 3.19.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $420.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $396.83 million. Materion had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 0.35%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Materion Co. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Materion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This is a boost from Materion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Materion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.00%.

Insider Activity at Materion

In related news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of Materion stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.45, for a total value of $160,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,076,099.20. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Materion in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

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.