Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 753,149 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 9,106 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.07% of Timken worth $63,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Timken by 1.1% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 176,643 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,869 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Timken by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,373 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Timken by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 8,286 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Timken during the 3rd quarter valued at about $172,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Timken in the third quarter valued at about $409,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.08% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Timken news, Director Richard G. Kyle sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.59, for a total value of $2,297,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 194,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,895,606.15. This trade represents a 13.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TKR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Timken from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Timken from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Timken from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Timken from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Timken from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.90.

Timken Stock Performance

Shares of TKR traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,409,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 490,756. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.38. The Timken Company has a 52-week low of $70.20 and a 52-week high of $94.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Timken (NYSE:TKR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.12 billion. Timken had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 7.41%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Timken Company will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Timken Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Timken's payout ratio is 28.27%.

Timken Profile

The Timken Company designs, manufactures, and sells engineered bearings and industrial motion products, and related services in the United States and internationally. The company's Engineered Bearings segment provides various bearing products, including tapered, spherical, and cylindrical roller bearings; plain bearings, metal-polymer bearings, and rod end bearings; radial, angular, and precision ball bearings; thrust and specialty ball bearings; journal bearings; and housed or mounted bearings.