Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 172,616 Shares of Nextracker Inc. (NASDAQ:NXT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nextracker Inc. (NASDAQ:NXT) by 24.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 873,741 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 172,616 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.60% of Nextracker worth $31,918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NXT. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Nextracker by 19.4% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 36,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,356,000 after buying an additional 5,869 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Nextracker by 25.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 123,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,644,000 after buying an additional 25,080 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Nextracker by 37.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Nextracker by 158.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 963,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,119,000 after buying an additional 591,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Nextracker by 14.4% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 39,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,492,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. 67.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nextracker Stock Performance

Shares of NXT opened at $46.12 on Friday. Nextracker Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.93 and a 12 month high of $62.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Nextracker (NASDAQ:NXT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.31. Nextracker had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 41.22%. Research analysts forecast that Nextracker Inc. will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nextracker news, President Howard Wenger sold 6,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $272,970.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 209,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,421,425. This represents a 2.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce Ledesma sold 9,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.05, for a total transaction of $455,480.55. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 132,374 shares in the company, valued at $6,095,822.70. This trade represents a 6.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,758 shares of company stock worth $1,217,520. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NXT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Nextracker to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Nextracker from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays raised shares of Nextracker from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $56.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Nextracker in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Nextracker from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nextracker currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.50.

Nextracker Company Profile

Nextracker Inc, an energy solutions company, provides solar tracker and software solutions for utility-scale and distributed generation solar projects in the United States and internationally. The company offers tracking solutions, which includes NX Horizon, a solar tracking solution; and NX Horizon-XTR, a terrain-following tracker designed to expand the addressable market for trackers on sites with sloped, uneven, and challenging terrain.