Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

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

Ferroglobe Stock Performance

GSM remained flat at $4.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company had a trading volume of 1,113,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 850,392. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.39. Ferroglobe has a 1 year low of $2.97 and a 1 year high of $5.74. The company has a market cap of $862.23 million, a P/E ratio of -6.24 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

Ferroglobe Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Ferroglobe

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ferroglobe by 820.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 341,479 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 304,381 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ferroglobe by 32.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 331,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 81,611 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ferroglobe in the 1st quarter valued at about $313,000. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp purchased a new position in Ferroglobe in the second quarter valued at about $1,833,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ferroglobe by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 17,474 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 2,838 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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