Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Ternium S.A. (NYSE:TX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ternium S.A. (NYSE:TX - Free Report) by 37.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,679 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 22,450 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Ternium were worth $3,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TX. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in Ternium during the second quarter valued at about $50,566,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Ternium during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,743,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Ternium by 422.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 174,572 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,443,000 after acquiring an additional 141,134 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Ternium by 43.0% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 258,600 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,710,000 after purchasing an additional 77,800 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Ternium by 22.0% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 203,632 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,646,000 after purchasing an additional 36,722 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.98% of the company's stock.

Ternium Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:TX traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.16. 177,992 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 166,946. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.90, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.23. Ternium S.A. has a 12-month low of $28.40 and a 12-month high of $44.44.

Ternium (NYSE:TX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.04. Ternium had a net margin of 0.42% and a return on equity of 4.70%. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ternium S.A. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Ternium Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a yield of 8.5%. Ternium's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 450.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ternium from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Ternium Company Profile

Ternium SA, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes steel products in Mexico, Southern Region, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Steel, Mining, and Usiminas. The Steel segment offers slabs, hot and cold rolled products, coated products, roll formed and tubular products, bars, billets, and other products.