Short Interest in AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) Drops By 19.0%

Key Points

• Short interest dropped 19.0% to 631,964 shares as of March 31, representing about 2.5% of the stock and a days-to-cover ratio of 1.0.
• AdvanSix beat the quarter, reporting EPS of $0.03 versus a -$0.06 consensus and revenue of $359.95 million versus $340.85 million estimated.
• Shares trade around $23.65 with a market cap of roughly $635 million and a P/E of 13.07; the company pays a $0.16 quarterly dividend (≈2.7% yield) and analyst coverage is mixed with a consensus "Hold" and average target of $25.67.

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 631,964 shares, a drop of 19.0% from the March 15th total of 780,595 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 653,789 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AdvanSix

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in AdvanSix during the second quarter worth $29,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in AdvanSix by 60.2% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,285 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of AdvanSix by 185.2% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AdvanSix by 27,537.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,211 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of AdvanSix by 90.0% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,358 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.39% of the company's stock.

AdvanSix Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASIX traded up $0.63 during trading on Thursday, reaching $23.65. The stock had a trading volume of 424,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 506,360. AdvanSix has a 52 week low of $14.10 and a 52 week high of $25.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $635.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.65.

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.09. AdvanSix had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 6.97%. The company had revenue of $359.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $340.85 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that AdvanSix will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AdvanSix Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. AdvanSix's payout ratio is 35.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AdvanSix from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of AdvanSix from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AdvanSix from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $25.00 target price on shares of AdvanSix in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AdvanSix currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.67.

About AdvanSix

AdvanSix, Inc NYSE: ASIX is an integrated chemical manufacturer specializing in the production of nylon 6 intermediates and related co‐products. Established as a publicly traded spin‐off from Honeywell Specialty Chemicals in June 2016, the company is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.

The company’s principal product is caprolactam, the key building block for nylon 6 resin, used in fibers and engineering plastics across industries. In addition to caprolactam and nylon 6 resin, AdvanSix produces ammonium sulfate fertilizer and industrial chemicals such as phenol and acetone.

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