Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in ATI Inc. (NYSE:ATI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in ATI Inc. (NYSE:ATI - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 585,948 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 24,867 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of ATI worth $39,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ATI. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of ATI in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in ATI by 557.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 933 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of ATI during the 2nd quarter worth about $88,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of ATI during the second quarter worth approximately $205,000. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new position in ATI in the 2nd quarter valued at $211,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at ATI

In other ATI news, Chairman Robert S. Wetherbee sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.99, for a total value of $1,474,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 436,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,745,772.57. This represents a 5.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tina Killough Busch sold 2,598 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total value of $155,931.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,611.06. The trade was a 10.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,598 shares of company stock worth $3,186,432. 1.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ATI. StockNews.com raised shares of ATI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on ATI from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. KeyCorp cut shares of ATI from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on ATI from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.71.

ATI Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ATI traded up $0.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.82. The stock had a trading volume of 433,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,460,166. The firm's fifty day moving average is $58.16 and its 200 day moving average is $60.16. ATI Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.04 and a 52 week high of $68.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.94. The stock has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.09.

ATI (NYSE:ATI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.06). ATI had a return on equity of 21.39% and a net margin of 8.85%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. ATI's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ATI Inc. will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ATI declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $700.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

ATI Profile

ATI Inc produces and sells specialty materials and complex components worldwide. It operates in two segments: High Performance Materials & Components (HPMC) and Advanced Alloys & Solutions (AA&S). The HPMC segment produces various materials, including titanium and titanium-based alloys, nickel- and cobalt-based alloys and superalloys, metallic powder alloys, advanced powder alloys and other specialty materials, in long product forms, such as ingot, billet, bar, rod, wire, shapes and rectangles, and seamless tubes, as well as precision forgings, components, and machined parts.