StockNews.com Upgrades Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ:PLPC) to "Strong-Buy"

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ:PLPC - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Preformed Line Products Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of Preformed Line Products stock traded down $6.68 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $141.86. 77,628 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,202. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $700.93 million, a P/E ratio of 21.30 and a beta of 0.62. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $135.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.35. Preformed Line Products has a 52-week low of $109.01 and a 52-week high of $154.90.

Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ:PLPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The technology company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $167.12 million for the quarter. Preformed Line Products had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 5.76%.

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Preformed Line Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Preformed Line Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.67%.

Institutional Trading of Preformed Line Products

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Preformed Line Products by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 314,094 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,138,000 after buying an additional 9,458 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Preformed Line Products by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 64,704 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,271,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its position in Preformed Line Products by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 59,803 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,642,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Preformed Line Products by 160.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 49,057 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,269,000 after buying an additional 30,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Preformed Line Products by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 41,204 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,265,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.19% of the company's stock.

About Preformed Line Products

Preformed Line Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures products and systems that are used in the construction and maintenance of overhead, ground-mounted, and underground networks for the energy, telecommunication, cable, data communication, and other industries. The company offers optical ground wire products to support, protect, terminate, and splice transmission and distribution lines, as well as bolted, welded, and compressed connectors for substations; and string hardware products, polymer insulators, wildlife protection, substation fittings, and motion control devices.