Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stock Holdings in The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its position in shares of The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,605,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 74,659 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Timken were worth $185,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TKR. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Timken by 418.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 882,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,959,000 after purchasing an additional 711,979 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Timken by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,700,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $143,376,000 after acquiring an additional 434,800 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in Timken by 108.9% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 397,895 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,398,000 after acquiring an additional 207,439 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Timken during the fourth quarter worth $14,460,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in Timken by 3,179.1% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 193,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,340,000 after purchasing an additional 187,946 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on TKR. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Timken from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Timken from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Timken from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Timken from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Timken in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.70.

Insider Transactions at Timken

In other Timken news, CFO Philip D. Fracassa sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 90,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,379,091.50. This represents a 5.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 8.70% of the company’s stock.

Timken Price Performance

Shares of TKR stock opened at $75.25 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $78.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.64. The Timken Company has a 12 month low of $69.35 and a 12 month high of $94.71.

Timken (NYSE:TKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.08. Timken had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 13.93%. Analysts predict that The Timken Company will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Timken Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Timken’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.25%.

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.