Materion (NYSE:MTRN) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $250.22, but opened at $217.71. Materion shares last traded at $219.91, with a volume of 8,994 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MTRN shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Materion in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $314.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Materion from $237.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Materion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Materion from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Materion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Four investment 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.00.

Materion Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $256.46 and a 200 day moving average of $237.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 51.96 and a beta of 1.05. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.38. Materion had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 13.38%. The business had revenue of $308.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $549.82 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 42.2% on a year-over-year basis. Materion has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.800-7.200 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Materion Corporation will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Materion Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.1450 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Materion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.52%.

Insider Activity at Materion

In related news, Director Emily M. Liggett sold 1,012 shares of Materion stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.42, for a total value of $235,209.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $734,679.62. This trade represents a 24.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Shelly Chadwick sold 1,705 shares of Materion stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.00, for a total transaction of $499,565.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 15,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,467,078. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 29,053 shares of company stock valued at $8,301,958 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Materion

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MTRN. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Materion during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,032,985,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Materion during the second quarter worth about $132,656,000. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Materion during the third quarter worth about $51,835,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Materion in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,481,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Materion in the second quarter valued at approximately $49,060,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.56% of the company’s stock.

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.