Short Interest in Basf Se (OTCMKTS:BASFY) Declines By 49.7%

Basf Se (OTCMKTS:BASFY - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,600 shares, a decline of 49.7% from the March 15th total of 37,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 204,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BASFY shares. UBS Group upgraded Basf from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Basf from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold".

Basf Price Performance

Shares of BASFY traded down $0.44 on Thursday, hitting $14.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 209,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 157,627. The company has a market capitalization of $50.76 billion, a PE ratio of 233.83, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Basf has a fifty-two week low of $10.66 and a fifty-two week high of $14.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $13.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.41.

Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The basic materials company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $17.09 billion during the quarter. Basf had a return on equity of 6.25% and a net margin of 0.32%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Basf will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Basf Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.6594 dividend. This is an increase from Basf's previous dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Basf's payout ratio is presently 1,083.33%.

About Basf

BASF SE operates as a chemical company worldwide. It operates through six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. The Chemicals segment provides petrochemicals and intermediates. The Materials segment offers advanced materials and their precursors for applications and systems comprising isocyanates, polyamides, and inorganic basic products, as well as specialties for plastics and plastics processing industries.