VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases 2,200 Shares of Materion Corporation $MTRN

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al boosted its position in Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN) by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Materion were worth $1,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Materion during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Polaris Financial Partners bought a new position in shares of Materion in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Materion in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Materion in the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Materion by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.56% of the company’s stock.

Materion Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of NYSE:MTRN opened at $227.46 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $252.78 and its 200 day moving average is $212.29. Materion Corporation has a 12-month low of $110.69 and a 12-month high of $324.98. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.02 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.38. Materion had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 4.29%. The business had revenue of $308.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $549.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Materion’s quarterly revenue was up 42.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Materion Corporation will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Materion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.1450 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Materion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Materion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Materion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Materion from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Materion in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $314.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Materion from $237.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Materion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Emily M. Liggett sold 1,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.42, for a total transaction of $235,209.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $734,679.62. This trade represents a 24.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jugal K. Vijayvargiya sold 24,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.62, for a total transaction of $7,096,864.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 116,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,031,762.38. This trade represents a 17.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,053 shares of company stock worth $8,301,958. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Materion Company Profile

Materion Corporation is an advanced materials company that develops, manufactures and supplies engineered materials for demanding applications. Its product portfolio includes beryllium and beryllium-aluminum alloys, specialty metals, precious-metal and clad materials, thin-film coating materials, optical filters and other precision components.

The company’s materials and products are used in aerospace and defense, semiconductor manufacturing, communications, medical technology, energy, automotive and other industrial markets.