Trexquant Investment LP Increases Position in Tennant (NYSE:TNC)

Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in Tennant (NYSE:TNC) by 104.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 51,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 26,118 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Tennant were worth $4,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Tennant by 84.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Tennant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Tennant by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tennant by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 839 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Tennant in the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Barb Balinski sold 1,717 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.42, for a total value of $148,383.14. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,022,262.18. The trade was a 12.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Zay sold 7,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.58, for a total transaction of $617,701.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 25,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,256,936.60. This represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Tennant Trading Down 1.6 %

Tennant stock opened at $74.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.53. Tennant has a 12 month low of $71.81 and a 12 month high of $122.35.

Tennant (NYSE:TNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.13. Tennant had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The company had revenue of $328.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.00 million. Analysts anticipate that Tennant will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Tennant announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback 2,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Tennant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Tennant’s payout ratio is 26.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TNC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Tennant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Northcoast Research started coverage on Tennant in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company.

Tennant Profile

Tennant Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets floor cleaning equipment in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers a suite of products, including floor maintenance and cleaning equipment, detergent-free and other sustainable cleaning technologies, aftermarket parts and consumables, equipment maintenance and repair services, and asset management solutions.