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

Key Points

• Call-option activity surged: Traders bought 42,599 PCT call options on Monday, about 197% above the average volume of 14,362.
• Analyst views are mixed: Cantor Fitzgerald cut its price target from $12 to $8 but maintained an overweight rating; overall, analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with a $10.75 target.
• Quarterly results missed estimates: PureCycle reported a loss of $0.29 per share versus the expected $0.26 loss, and revenue of $2.35 million versus an $8.28 million consensus estimate.

PureCycle Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCT - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 42,599 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 197% compared to the average volume of 14,362 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PCT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of PureCycle Technologies from $12.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of PureCycle Technologies in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Fernando Musa purchased 15,479 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $6.38 per share, with a total value of $98,756.02. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 175,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,122,771.54. The trade was a 9.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 18.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in PureCycle Technologies by 707.8% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 428,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 375,486 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in PureCycle Technologies by 600.9% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,186,811 shares of the company's stock worth $9,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,488 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in PureCycle Technologies in the second quarter worth $5,095,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of PureCycle Technologies by 12.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,331,674 shares of the company's stock worth $27,020,000 after purchasing an additional 355,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of PureCycle Technologies during the second quarter worth $3,290,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PureCycle Technologies Price Performance

Shares of PCT traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $2.06. 5,719,779 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,217,501. The stock has a market cap of $414.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.77 and a beta of 2.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $4.37 and a 200-day moving average of $7.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 21.30, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.60. PureCycle Technologies has a 52 week low of $1.59 and a 52 week high of $14.20.

PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ:PCT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by ($0.03). PureCycle Technologies had a negative return on equity of 959.19% and a negative net margin of 1,370.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.28 million. On average, analysts forecast that PureCycle Technologies will post -0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PureCycle Technologies Company Profile

PureCycle Technologies, Inc NASDAQ: PCT is a recycling technology company focused on converting waste polypropylene (PP) into recycled resin with properties designed to be comparable to virgin polypropylene. Its technology is intended to remove color, odor and other contaminants from used plastic, expanding the potential for recycled PP in applications that traditionally rely on virgin materials.

The company processes post-consumer and post-industrial polypropylene feedstock into purified recycled polypropylene products.

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