Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 783,560 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 30,411 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.12% of Timken worth $55,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vestcor Inc bought a new position in shares of Timken in the 3rd quarter worth $560,000. TT International Asset Management LTD grew its stake in Timken by 1,075.2% in the third quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 39,274 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,310,000 after purchasing an additional 35,932 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Timken by 221.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,667 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,307,000 after purchasing an additional 59,716 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Timken during the third quarter valued at about $2,863,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Timken by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 60,625 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,327,000 after purchasing an additional 13,697 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Timken news, CFO Philip D. Fracassa sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.50, for a total value of $407,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,379,091.50. This trade represents a 5.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Timken Price Performance

TKR stock traded down $2.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $81.26. 557,574 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 696,414. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 3.07 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The Timken Company has a 12-month low of $69.35 and a 12-month high of $94.71. The stock's 50 day moving average is $76.49 and its 200 day moving average is $79.33. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39.

Timken (NYSE:TKR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.08. Timken had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 13.93%. On average, research analysts expect that The Timken Company will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Timken Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Timken's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TKR shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Timken from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Timken in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Timken from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Timken from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Timken from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Timken presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.70.

Timken Company 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.