Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in AdvanSix Inc. (NYSE:ASIX)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AdvanSix Inc. (NYSE:ASIX - Free Report) by 43.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,729 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,723 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.23% of AdvanSix worth $1,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in AdvanSix by 14.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 104,584 shares of the company's stock worth $3,177,000 after acquiring an additional 13,316 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in AdvanSix by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 740,028 shares of the company's stock worth $21,083,000 after acquiring an additional 100,841 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new stake in AdvanSix during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,403,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in AdvanSix during the fourth quarter worth approximately $663,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AdvanSix during the fourth quarter worth approximately $228,000. 86.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Achilles B. Kintiroglou sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.24, for a total value of $88,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $808,713.12. This trade represents a 9.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

AdvanSix Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of ASIX traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.06. The company had a trading volume of 122,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 153,112. The stock has a market cap of $618.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.86. AdvanSix Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.44 and a fifty-two week high of $33.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.40. The company had revenue of $329.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.15 million. AdvanSix had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 6.26%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AdvanSix Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AdvanSix Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. AdvanSix's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASIX. Piper Sandler set a $32.00 target price on shares of AdvanSix in a research report on Monday. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on shares of AdvanSix in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AdvanSix from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday.

AdvanSix Profile

AdvanSix Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of polymer resins in the United States and internationally. It offers Nylon 6, a polymer resin, which is a synthetic material used to produce fibers, filaments, engineered plastics, and films. The company also provides caprolactam to manufacture polymer resins; ammonium sulfate fertilizers to distributors, farm cooperatives, and retailers; and acetone that are used in the production of adhesives, paints, coatings, solvents, herbicides, and engineered plastic resins, as well as other intermediate chemicals, including phenol, monoisopropylamine, dipropylamine, monoallylamine, alpha-methylstyrene, cyclohexanone, methyl ethyl ketoxime, acetaldehyde oxime, 2-pentanone oxime, cyclohexanol, sulfuric acid, ammonia, and carbon dioxide.