Braskem (NYSE:BAK) Trading 11.7% Higher – Should You Buy?

Braskem S.A. (NYSE:BAK) traded up 11.7% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $3.11 and last traded at $3.0950. 756,766 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 22% from the average session volume of 972,433 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Braskem from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Citigroup downgraded Braskem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research cut Braskem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. UBS Group downgraded Braskem from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $5.10 to $3.80 in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Braskem in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $4.40.

Braskem Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.23 and a beta of 1.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.21.

Braskem (NYSE:BAK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 11th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by $0.46. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Braskem S.A. will post -0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Braskem

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAK. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Braskem by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 783,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,896,000 after purchasing an additional 19,956 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Braskem during the third quarter worth about $117,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Braskem during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Braskem by 130.3% in the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 49,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 27,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in Braskem by 607.1% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 263,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 226,467 shares during the last quarter.

Braskem Company Profile

Braskem SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells thermoplastic resins. The company operates through three segments: Brazil, United States and Europe, and Mexico. The Brazil segment produces and sells olefins, including ethylene, polymer and chemical grade propylene, butadiene, and butene-1; benzene, toluene, and xylenes products; fuels, such as automotive gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas, ethyl tertiary-butyl ether, and methyl tertiary-butyl ether; intermediates, such as cumene; aliphatics, aromatics, and hydrogenated solvents; and specialties comprising isoprene, dicyclopentadiene, piperylene, nonene, tetramer, polyisobutylene, and hydrocarbon resins.