Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) Short Interest Up 40.9% in December

Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,591,738 shares, an increase of 40.9% from the November 30th total of 4,679,399 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 997,086 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 997,086 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.6 days. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ferroglobe

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GSM. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Ferroglobe in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Ferroglobe during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Ferroglobe by 1,017,300.0% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,174 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 10,173 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Ferroglobe in the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Ferroglobe in the second quarter worth $45,000. 89.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ferroglobe Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ GSM traded up $0.02 on Wednesday, hitting $4.64. 811,791 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,311,696. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.66. Ferroglobe has a 52-week low of $2.97 and a 52-week high of $5.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $865.96 million, a P/E ratio of -6.27 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.39.

Ferroglobe (NASDAQ:GSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $311.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $393.80 million. Ferroglobe had a negative return on equity of 6.13% and a negative net margin of 9.92%. Research analysts forecast that Ferroglobe will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferroglobe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd were issued a $0.014 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ferroglobe’s payout ratio is presently -8.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GSM shares. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Ferroglobe from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ferroglobe in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ferroglobe from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ferroglobe from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

About Ferroglobe

Ferroglobe PLC is a leading producer of specialty metals and alloys, serving a diverse range of industrial customers worldwide. The company’s core operations focus on the manufacture of silicon metal, silicon-based alloys, manganese-based alloys and rare earth alloys, which are essential inputs for the aluminum, steel, chemical and electronics industries. Ferroglobe’s product portfolio includes high-purity silicon, ferrosilicon, silicon manganese, manganese alloys and various recarburizers used to enhance metal strength, durability and conductivity.

With production facilities located across North America, Europe, South America and Africa, Ferroglobe maintains a global footprint that allows it to supply customers on multiple continents.