American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stock Position in Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ:PLPC)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ:PLPC) by 160.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,057 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,245 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Preformed Line Products were worth $6,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Preformed Line Products by 93.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,119 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after buying an additional 3,919 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Preformed Line Products by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,161 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Preformed Line Products by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,091 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,214,000 after purchasing an additional 5,442 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Preformed Line Products by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,989 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 2,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausbil Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Preformed Line Products by 222.8% during the 4th quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Preformed Line Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th.

Preformed Line Products Stock Performance

Shares of PLPC opened at $134.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $138.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $132.23. The stock has a market cap of $663.92 million, a P/E ratio of 20.18 and a beta of 0.65. Preformed Line Products has a one year low of $109.01 and a one year high of $154.90.

Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ:PLPC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The technology company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $167.12 million during the quarter. Preformed Line Products had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 5.76%.

Preformed Line Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Preformed Line Products’s payout ratio is 10.67%.

Preformed Line Products Profile

Preformed Line Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures products and systems that are used in the construction and maintenance of overhead, ground-mounted, and underground networks for the energy, telecommunication, cable, data communication, and other industries. The company offers optical ground wire products to support, protect, terminate, and splice transmission and distribution lines, as well as bolted, welded, and compressed connectors for substations; and string hardware products, polymer insulators, wildlife protection, substation fittings, and motion control devices.