PureCycle Technologies Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PCT)

Key Points

• Options activity surged: Traders bought 41,163 PureCycle Technologies call options, 190% above the average daily volume. The stock nevertheless fell 8.0% to $5.77.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Ratings range from buy to sell, producing a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $11.75.
• Fundamentals remain challenged: PureCycle missed quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting a $0.80 loss per share versus the expected $0.29 loss. An insider bought nearly $99,000 of shares, while institutional investors own 63.01% of the company.

PureCycle Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCT - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 41,163 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 190% compared to the average daily volume of 14,190 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PCT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on PureCycle Technologies from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of PureCycle Technologies in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Alembic Global Advisors set a $16.00 price target on shares of PureCycle Technologies in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $13.00 price target on shares of PureCycle Technologies in a research report on Friday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $11.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Fernando Musa bought 15,479 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.38 per share, with a total value of $98,756.02. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 175,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,122,771.54. This trade represents a 9.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 18.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PureCycle Technologies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in PureCycle Technologies by 707.8% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 428,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,224,000 after buying an additional 375,486 shares in the last quarter. SWS Partners acquired a new stake in shares of PureCycle Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth $11,637,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in PureCycle Technologies by 18.2% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,445,556 shares of the company's stock worth $7,502,000 after purchasing an additional 222,996 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in PureCycle Technologies by 27.9% in the first quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 711,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,602,000 after acquiring an additional 155,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PureCycle Technologies by 85.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 238,107 shares of the company's stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 109,429 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PureCycle Technologies Stock Down 8.0%

PCT stock traded down $0.50 during trading on Thursday, reaching $5.77. 4,085,481 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,716,293. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.65. PureCycle Technologies has a 12 month low of $4.93 and a 12 month high of $15.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.37, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.95 and a beta of 2.57.

PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ:PCT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by ($0.51). The firm had revenue of $4.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.11 million. PureCycle Technologies had a negative net margin of 1,618.84% and a negative return on equity of 612.39%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PureCycle Technologies will post -0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PureCycle Technologies Company Profile

PureCycle Technologies, Inc operates as a recycling technology company focused on restoring waste polypropylene to a “virgin-like” state through a proprietary purification process licensed from Procter & Gamble. The company develops, owns and operates recycling facilities that convert used polypropylene feedstock—such as packaging and industrial plastics—into ultra‐pure recycled resin. This resin, known as Qualified Recycled Polymer (QRP), is designed to meet stringent quality specifications for applications in packaging, consumer goods and industrial products.

Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, PureCycle was established with technology development efforts dating back to licensing agreements in the mid-2010s and later spun off as a publicly traded entity in 2021.

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.