Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 34.6% in March to 2,681,653 shares (about 1.7% of the stock) with a days-to-cover ratio of 1.6, signaling a notable reduction in bearish positioning.
• Ferroglobe increased its quarterly dividend to $0.015 (annualized $0.06), up from $0.01, implying a roughly 1.4% yield.
• Insiders bought shares: Chairman Madrid Javier Lopez and Director De Fuentes Silvia Villar-Mir each purchased 26,000 shares at $3.86 on March 23, bringing insider ownership to about 13.07%.

Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,681,653 shares, a decline of 34.6% from the March 15th total of 4,099,367 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,627,852 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Ferroglobe Stock Performance

GSM stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.34. The stock had a trading volume of 423,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,267,282. The firm has a market capitalization of $809.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.72 and a beta of 1.02. Ferroglobe has a 52 week low of $3.04 and a 52 week high of $5.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Ferroglobe (NASDAQ:GSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $329.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $293.60 million. Ferroglobe had a negative return on equity of 8.65% and a negative net margin of 12.78%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ferroglobe will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferroglobe Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd were given a $0.015 dividend. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Ferroglobe's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 23rd. Ferroglobe's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -6.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GSM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Ferroglobe from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Zacks Research raised Ferroglobe from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Ferroglobe in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.00.

Insider Activity at Ferroglobe

In other news, Chairman Madrid Javier Lopez purchased 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $3.86 per share, with a total value of $100,360.00. Following the purchase, the chairman owned 147,200 shares in the company, valued at $568,192. This represents a 21.45% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director De Fuentes Silvia Villar-Mir purchased 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.86 per share, with a total value of $100,360.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 121,226 shares in the company, valued at $467,932.36. This represents a 27.30% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 13.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ferroglobe by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,871,942 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $22,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277,344 shares during the last quarter. Ardsley Advisory Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Ferroglobe in the 4th quarter worth $9,837,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ferroglobe by 1,068.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,558,383 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,998 shares during the last quarter. Man Investment Partners US LP bought a new stake in Ferroglobe in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,021,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Ferroglobe in the third quarter valued at about $5,872,000. 89.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ferroglobe

Ferroglobe PLC is a leading producer of specialty metals and alloys, serving a diverse range of industrial customers worldwide. The company's core operations focus on the manufacture of silicon metal, silicon-based alloys, manganese-based alloys and rare earth alloys, which are essential inputs for the aluminum, steel, chemical and electronics industries. Ferroglobe's product portfolio includes high-purity silicon, ferrosilicon, silicon manganese, manganese alloys and various recarburizers used to enhance metal strength, durability and conductivity.

With production facilities located across North America, Europe, South America and Africa, Ferroglobe maintains a global footprint that allows it to supply customers on multiple continents.

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