CTS (NYSE:CTS) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

CTS Co. (NYSE:CTS) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $49.27, but opened at $45.84. CTS shares last traded at $47.86, with a volume of 14,333 shares.

The electronics maker reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.06). CTS had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 11.66%.

CTS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. CTS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CTS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Scotiabank cut shares of CTS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CTS news, CEO Kieran M. O’sullivan sold 31,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.81, for a total value of $1,784,692.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 423,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,644,743.65. This represents a 7.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 59,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,331,185 over the last quarter. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CTS

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of CTS by 23.1% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,993,863 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $96,463,000 after purchasing an additional 374,104 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CTS by 4.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 806,180 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $39,010,000 after purchasing an additional 33,449 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CTS by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 385,602 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $18,655,000 after purchasing an additional 9,674 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of CTS by 5.4% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 294,513 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $14,249,000 after purchasing an additional 15,062 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of CTS by 19.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 159,105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,697,000 after purchasing an additional 26,376 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.87% of the company’s stock.

CTS Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.65.

About CTS

CTS Corporation manufactures and sells sensors, actuators, and connectivity components in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company provides encoders, rotary position sensors, slide potentiometers, industrial and commercial rotary potentiometers. It also provides non-contacting, and contacting pedals; and eBrake pedals.