Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Invests $897,000 in The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $897,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TKR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Timken by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,465,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $461,461,000 after purchasing an additional 26,973 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Timken by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,158,690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $225,436,000 after acquiring an additional 320,354 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Timken by 418.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 882,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,959,000 after acquiring an additional 711,979 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Timken by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 783,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,928,000 after acquiring an additional 30,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Timken by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 717,278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,192,000 after acquiring an additional 50,519 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.08% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Philip D. Fracassa sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.50, for a total value of $407,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,541 shares in the company, valued at $7,379,091.50. This represents a 5.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 8.70% of the company’s stock.

Timken Stock Performance

TKR stock opened at $61.39 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $56.20 and a 1 year high of $94.71. The company has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $72.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.95.

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

Timken Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Timken’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TKR shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Timken from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Timken in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Timken from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Timken from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Timken from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.91.

About Timken

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.