Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. (OTCMKTS:SHECY) Short Interest Up 459.1% in March

Key Points

• Short interest surged 459.1% — short interest rose to 502,315 shares as of March 31 (from 89,843 on March 15), leaving a days-to-cover of 0.7 despite a reported 0.0% of shares shorted.
• Shares traded at $20.70 mid-day with a market cap of $82.18B and a P/E of 24.07; the 50-day and 200-day moving averages are $19.06 and $16.95, respectively, and the 12‑month range is $13.03–$21.28.
• Latest quarter showed $0.22 EPS, $4.22B revenue and an 18.96% net margin, analysts have a consensus Hold rating (Zacks upgraded to Hold) and the street expects about 0.86 EPS for the fiscal year.

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. (OTCMKTS:SHECY - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 502,315 shares, an increase of 459.1% from the March 15th total of 89,843 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 693,468 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Shin-Etsu Chemical Stock Performance

OTCMKTS:SHECY traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 153,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 584,653. The company has a current ratio of 6.26, a quick ratio of 4.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $82.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $19.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.95. Shin-Etsu Chemical has a 12-month low of $13.03 and a 12-month high of $21.28.

Shin-Etsu Chemical (OTCMKTS:SHECY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Shin-Etsu Chemical had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 10.75%. The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Shin-Etsu Chemical will post 0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Shin-Etsu Chemical to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

About Shin-Etsu Chemical

Shin-Etsu Chemical is a large Japanese chemical company that manufactures a broad range of basic and specialty chemical products for industrial and technology customers. The company is known for production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and related vinyl products, silicones and silicone-based compounds, and high-purity silicon materials used in semiconductor and photovoltaic industries. Its product mix spans commodity chemicals for construction and plumbing as well as higher-margin specialty materials for electronics and precision manufacturing.

Key product lines include PVC resins and compounds for infrastructure and building applications; silicones and silicone elastomers used across automotive, healthcare and consumer markets; and semiconductor-grade silicon and silicon wafers that supply chipmakers and solar-cell manufacturers.

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