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

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Nextracker Inc. (NASDAQ:NXT) by 24.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 873,741 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 172,616 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Nextracker were worth $31,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Nextracker Trading Down 4.8 %

NXT opened at $46.12 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.23 and its 200-day moving average is $39.13. Nextracker Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.93 and a 1-year high of $62.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 2.14.

Nextracker (NASDAQ:NXT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.31. Nextracker had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 41.22%. Equities research analysts predict that Nextracker Inc. will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Howard Wenger sold 6,066 shares of Nextracker stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $9,421,425. This trade represents a 2.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce Ledesma sold 9,891 shares of Nextracker stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 132,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,095,822.70. This represents a 6.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,758 shares of company stock worth $1,217,520. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NXT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Nextracker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Nextracker in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Nextracker from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of Nextracker in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Nextracker from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nextracker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.