Tennant (NYSE:TNC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Tennant (NYSE:TNC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Separately, Northcoast Research began 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 Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE TNC opened at $85.34 on Thursday. Tennant has a 1 year low of $78.57 and a 1 year high of $124.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.66.

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

Tennant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Tennant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.94%.

Tennant announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase 2,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Tennant

In other news, insider Richard H. Zay sold 7,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,256,936.60. This represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tennant

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TNC. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Tennant by 1.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 28,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tennant by 4.2% during the third quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 110,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,645,000 after purchasing an additional 4,472 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Tennant by 14.6% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 3,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Tennant by 2.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 31,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,898,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Tennant during the third quarter valued at approximately $244,000. 93.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Tennant

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.