Principal Financial Group Inc. Invests $5.67 Million in Embraer S.A. (NYSE:ERJ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Embraer S.A. (NYSE:ERJ) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 212,759 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,668,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in Embraer during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Embraer during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Embraer by 189.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,563 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Embraer during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Embraer by 13.1% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,982 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. 34.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Embraer Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:ERJ traded down $0.15 on Friday, hitting $26.77. The stock had a trading volume of 366,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,648,481. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Embraer S.A. has a 1 year low of $12.48 and a 1 year high of $31.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.23.

Embraer (NYSE:ERJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $896.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $883.92 million. Embraer had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 5.35%. Research analysts forecast that Embraer S.A. will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ERJ shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Embraer from $19.50 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Embraer from $21.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Embraer from $21.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Embraer from $28.50 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Embraer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Embraer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.83.

About Embraer

Embraer SA designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aircraft and systems in North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Brazil, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Commercial Aviation; Defense & Security; Executive Aviation; Services & Support; and Other segments. The Commercial Aviation segment designs, develops, manufactures, and sells commercial jets, as well as leases aircraft.