Brenntag AG (OTCMKTS:BNTGY) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest surged 179.4% to 21,822 shares as of July 15, up from 7,809 shares on June 30; short interest remains negligible at 0.0% of shares outstanding.
• Analyst sentiment is mostly cautious: seven analysts rate Brenntag “Hold” and one rates it “Sell,” producing an average “Reduce” rating and a $12.80 price target.
• Brenntag’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations, with EPS of $0.16 versus $0.18 expected and revenue of $4.29 billion versus $4.33 billion projected.

Brenntag AG (OTCMKTS:BNTGY - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 21,822 shares, a growth of 179.4% from the June 30th total of 7,809 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 79,932 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BNTGY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Brenntag in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Brenntag from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Brenntag from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised Brenntag from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brenntag has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $12.80.

Brenntag Stock Performance

OTCMKTS:BNTGY opened at $13.41 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.24 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50-day moving average price is $12.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.81. Brenntag has a twelve month low of $10.19 and a twelve month high of $14.97.

Brenntag (OTCMKTS:BNTGY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.02). Brenntag had a net margin of 1.55% and a return on equity of 5.28%. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.33 billion. On average, analysts expect that Brenntag will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

About Brenntag

Brenntag SE, trading on OTCMKTS as BNTGY, is a global market leader in the distribution of chemicals and ingredients. With headquarters in Essen, Germany, the company serves a wide range of industries including coatings and construction, cleaning and water treatment, food and nutrition, pharmaceuticals and personal care, as well as oil and gas. Brenntag operates through two core segments—Essentials and Specialties—offering both standard commodity chemicals and tailored specialty solutions to customers around the world.

Its product portfolio encompasses inorganic and organic chemicals, polymers, petrochemicals and specialty ingredients.

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