Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Citigroup lowered its Ecovyst price target from $13 to $12 and maintained a neutral rating; the new target implies about 13% upside from the stock’s $10.62 price.
• Analyst opinions remain mixed, but MarketBeat’s consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with a consensus price target of $14.
• Ecovyst beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.23 versus $0.21 expected and revenue of $308.64 million versus $287.45 million; revenue rose 50.6% year over year.

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Citigroup from $13.00 to $12.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.05% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ECVT. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ecovyst in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised Ecovyst from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ecovyst from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, November 1st. BWS Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Ecovyst in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Ecovyst in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Ecovyst Stock Performance

NYSE:ECVT traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $10.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 315,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,663,085. Ecovyst has a fifty-two week low of $8.11 and a fifty-two week high of $15.09. The firm's 50 day moving average is $10.18 and its 200-day moving average is $11.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.08.

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $308.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.45 million. Ecovyst had a net margin of 3.72% and a return on equity of 14.38%. Ecovyst's revenue for the quarter was up 50.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecovyst will post 0.60 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecovyst

In other news, Director Patti Humble bought 24,875 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.05 per share, with a total value of $249,993.75. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 33,974 shares in the company, valued at $341,438.70. This trade represents a 273.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecovyst

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecovyst in the second quarter worth about $132,792,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Ecovyst by 246.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,829,034 shares of the company's stock worth $62,101,000 after acquiring an additional 3,435,942 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecovyst during the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,712,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Ecovyst during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,274,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecovyst during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,163,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.69% of the company's stock.

Ecovyst Company Profile

Ecovyst Inc. is a specialty chemicals company that supplies catalysts, materials and services to customers in the refining, chemicals and other industrial sectors. Its businesses include sulfuric acid services and catalyst technologies. Through its Ecoservices business, Ecovyst regenerates spent sulfuric acid for reuse and supplies virgin sulfuric acid. These services support industrial processes, including those used in petroleum refining and chemical manufacturing. The company's catalyst technologies include zeolite catalysts and silica-based materials used in refining and chemical applications.

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