Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN) Short Interest Up 29.7% in February

Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 772,963 shares, an increase of 29.7% from the February 12th total of 595,778 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 226,577 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 226,577 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Materion

In other Materion news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 4,517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.32, for a total value of $710,614.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 5,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $932,907.60. This trade represents a 43.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vinod M. Khilnani sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.86, for a total transaction of $595,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,034,171.90. This represents a 22.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 49,549 shares of company stock worth $7,548,444 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Materion

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Materion during the fourth quarter worth $288,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Materion by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 73,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Materion by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in Materion during the 4th quarter worth about $570,000. Finally, Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Materion by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC now owns 9,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Materion from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Materion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Materion in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.00.

Materion Trading Up 5.8%

NYSE MTRN traded up $7.93 on Monday, reaching $143.92. The company had a trading volume of 374,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 226,645. Materion has a 52 week low of $69.10 and a 52 week high of $172.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $147.47 and its 200-day moving average is $130.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.09 and a beta of 0.84.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $489.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $448.78 million. Materion had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 4.19%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Materion has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.000-6.500 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Materion will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Materion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Materion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.60%.

About Materion

Materion Corporation (NYSE: MTRN) is a global supplier of advanced materials and precision-engineered solutions. The company develops and manufactures high-performance alloys, engineered clad and composite materials, precision thin film products, and advanced optical and electronic materials. Materion’s offerings address critical performance requirements for industries where material properties such as strength, wear resistance, conductivity and optical clarity are paramount.

Materion’s core businesses include beryllium and beryllium composites for aerospace and defense platforms, nickel- and copper-based specialty alloys for industrial and medical applications, optical coatings and substrates for scientific instrumentation, and electronic materials used in semiconductor production.