Arkema SA (OTCMKTS:ARKAY) Short Interest Down 77.9% in June

Key Points

• Short interest in Arkema SA dropped sharply in June, falling 77.9% to 262 shares as of June 30 from 1,186 shares on June 15. That leaves essentially no shares sold short relative to the company’s float.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with Arkema carrying a consensus rating of “Reduce.” Recent moves included Deutsche Bank reiterating a hold, while Goldman Sachs cut the stock to neutral and Kepler Capital Markets downgraded it to strong sell.
• The company beat quarterly earnings expectations in its latest report, posting $1.01 EPS versus the $0.91 consensus and revenue of $2.57 billion versus $2.52 billion expected. Despite the beat, Arkema’s stock opened at $62.19, below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Arkema SA (OTCMKTS:ARKAY - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 262 shares, a decrease of 77.9% from the June 15th total of 1,186 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,036 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARKAY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Arkema in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of Arkema from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Arkema from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Arkema from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arkema from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arkema presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce".

Arkema Trading Up 0.8%

Arkema stock opened at $62.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.31 and a 200-day moving average of $66.80. The company has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 248.78 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Arkema has a one year low of $56.28 and a one year high of $79.36.

Arkema (OTCMKTS:ARKAY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Arkema had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Arkema will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Arkema

Arkema SA is a global specialty chemicals and advanced materials company headquartered in Colombes, France. Established in 2004 as a spin-off from Total's chemicals division, the company offers a broad portfolio of high-performance materials designed to improve durability, thermal and chemical resistance, and environmental performance across diverse industries.

Arkema's operations are organized into four core segments. Adhesive Solutions delivers bonding, sealing, and coating technologies for markets such as packaging, medical devices, and consumer goods.

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