Braskem (NYSE:BAK) Shares Up 7.6% – Should You Buy?

Braskem S.A. (NYSE:BAK)’s stock price shot up 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $3.13 and last traded at $3.1950. 125,971 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 972,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Santander downgraded shares of Braskem from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Braskem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Braskem from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Braskem in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut Braskem from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $5.10 to $3.80 in a report on Friday, September 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $4.40.

Braskem Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of -1.34 and a beta of 1.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.14.

Braskem (NYSE:BAK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.46. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Analysts expect that Braskem S.A. will post -0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Braskem in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Braskem in the third quarter valued at about $64,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Braskem by 94.7% during the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 32,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 15,630 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Braskem during the first quarter worth about $99,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Braskem during the 3rd quarter worth about $117,000.

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.