Arkema SA (OTCMKTS:ARKAY) Stock Short Interest Declines 98.1%

Key Points

• Short interest plunged 98.1% to 36 shares as of September 30, down from 1,858 shares two weeks earlier; 0.0% of shares are currently sold short.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: six analysts rate Arkema “Hold” and one rates it “Sell,” resulting in a consensus “Reduce” rating despite Barclays’ upgrade to “Hold.”
• Arkema shares rose 0.7% to $61.68, while the company’s latest quarterly EPS of $1.98 exceeded estimates of $1.86; revenue of $2.79 billion fell short of the $2.86 billion consensus.

Arkema SA (OTCMKTS:ARKAY - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 36 shares, a decline of 98.1% from the September 15th total of 1,858 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,892 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.0 days. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARKAY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating on shares of Arkema in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Arkema from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce".

Arkema Stock Up 0.7%

ARKAY traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $61.68. 1,204 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,097. The stock's 50-day moving average is $67.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.77. Arkema has a 1-year low of $56.28 and a 1-year high of $79.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 212.70 and a beta of 0.88.

Arkema (OTCMKTS:ARKAY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.12. Arkema had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 0.67%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.86 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Arkema will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Arkema

Arkema is a France-based specialty materials company that develops and manufactures materials used in a broad range of industrial and consumer applications. Its portfolio includes high-performance polymers, adhesives, coating materials, additives and specialty chemical intermediates.

The company's businesses serve markets such as construction, automotive, electronics, renewable energy, consumer goods, packaging and healthcare. Arkema's brands and product lines include Bostik adhesives, Kynar fluoropolymers, Rilsan polyamide materials, Pebax elastomers and Sartomer specialty resins and additives.

Arkema was established in 2004 through the reorganization of Total's chemicals businesses and became an independent, publicly traded company in 2006.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.