American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) Short Interest Down 70.7% in June

American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 238,225 shares, a decrease of 70.7% from the June 15th total of 813,914 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 705,640 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patrick E. Gottschalk acquired 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $2.70 per share, with a total value of $67,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 191,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $517,603.50. The trade was a 15.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Vanguard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Vanguard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of American Vanguard in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in American Vanguard during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in American Vanguard during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Jain Global LLC purchased a new position in American Vanguard in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.00% of the company’s stock.

American Vanguard Stock Performance

Shares of AVD stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $2.67. The stock had a trading volume of 217,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 337,164. The firm has a market cap of $76.46 million, a PE ratio of -1.68 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.41. American Vanguard has a fifty-two week low of $2.05 and a fifty-two week high of $5.92.

American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $123.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.00 million. American Vanguard had a negative return on equity of 4.13% and a negative net margin of 8.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered American Vanguard from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat, American Vanguard currently has an average rating of “Sell”.

American Vanguard Company Profile

American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE: AVD) is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemical products for crop protection, turf and ornamental care, and public health pest control. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, the company offers a portfolio of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides designed for use across agricultural, turf and urban pest management applications. Its research and development efforts focus on novel chemistries and formulation technologies that address emerging pest resistance and regulatory requirements.

The company’s product lines include emulsifiable concentrates, wettable powders, granular formulations, baits and liquid concentrates sold under proprietary brand names.