Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $303,000 in The Chemours Company (NYSE:CC)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired 22,393 shares of The Chemours Company, valued at approximately $303,000, during the 1st quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have generally downgraded Chemours, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $17.38.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.0875 per share, indicating a dividend yield of 2.9%, despite a dividend payout ratio of -12.50%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Chemours Company (NYSE:CC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 22,393 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Chemours during the first quarter valued at about $822,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Chemours by 116.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 742,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,041,000 after purchasing an additional 399,097 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Chemours by 22.4% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 31,886 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 5,843 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Chemours by 1,115.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,617 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 17,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Chemours by 8.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 38,554 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 3,081 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on CC shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on Chemours from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen cut Chemours from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Chemours from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Chemours from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Chemours from $27.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chemours currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chemours

In other news, insider Damian Gumpel acquired 7,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.95 per share, for a total transaction of $77,828.90. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 131,701 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,310,424.95. This represents a 6.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Shane Hostetter purchased 4,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.28 per share, for a total transaction of $50,196.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $673,348.32. This trade represents a 8.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 25,672 shares of company stock worth $251,573 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Chemours Trading Up 6.3%

NYSE CC traded up $0.74 on Tuesday, reaching $12.42. 784,022 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,517,474. The business's fifty day moving average price is $12.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.43 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.16. The Chemours Company has a fifty-two week low of $9.13 and a fifty-two week high of $22.38.

Chemours (NYSE:CC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.12. Chemours had a positive return on equity of 35.14% and a negative net margin of 7.19%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Chemours Company will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Chemours Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.0875 dividend. This represents a $0.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Chemours's payout ratio is currently -12.50%.

About Chemours

The Chemours Company provides performance chemicals in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It operates through three segments: Titanium Technologies, Thermal & Specialized Solutions, and Advanced Performance Materials. The Titanium Technologies segment provides TiO2 pigment under the Ti-Pure brand for delivering whiteness, brightness, opacity, durability, efficiency, and protection in various of applications, such as architectural and industrial coatings, flexible and rigid plastic packaging, polyvinylchloride, laminate papers used for furniture and building materials, coated paper, and coated paperboard used for packaging.