Norsk Hydro ASA (OTCMKTS:NHYDY) Rating Lowered to Hold at Kepler Capital Markets

Key Points

• Norsk Hydro ASA has been downgraded by Kepler Capital Markets from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating as of Wednesday.
• Despite the downgrade, the company holds a consensus rating of "Buy" from analysts, with mixed ratings from other financial institutions, including a recent upgrade by Royal Bank Of Canada.
• Norsk Hydro ASA reported earnings of $0.16 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $5.23 billion.

Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of Norsk Hydro ASA (OTCMKTS:NHYDY - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Norsk Hydro ASA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Norsk Hydro ASA in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised Norsk Hydro ASA from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Norsk Hydro ASA Stock Performance

OTCMKTS:NHYDY traded down $0.09 on Wednesday, reaching $6.21. 47,994 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 75,356. Norsk Hydro ASA has a 52 week low of $4.50 and a 52 week high of $6.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $12.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.47.

Norsk Hydro ASA (OTCMKTS:NHYDY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.09. Norsk Hydro ASA had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 4.37%. The business had revenue of $5.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $51.63 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Norsk Hydro ASA will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Norsk Hydro ASA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a $0.1442 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Norsk Hydro ASA's dividend payout ratio is 33.33%.

Norsk Hydro ASA Company Profile

Norsk Hydro ASA engages in the power production, bauxite extraction, alumina refining, aluminium smelting, and recycling activities; and provision of extruded solutions worldwide. It operates through Hydro Bauxite & Alumina, Hydro Aluminium Metal, Hydro Metal Markets, Hydro Extrusions, and Hydro Energy segments.