Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) Short Interest Down 34.6% in March

Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,681,653 shares, a decrease of 34.6% from the March 15th total of 4,099,367 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,627,852 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Ferroglobe Stock Down 1.8%

Ferroglobe stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $4.44. The stock had a trading volume of 604,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,252,630. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $828.64 million, a P/E ratio of -4.83 and a beta of 1.02. Ferroglobe has a 12-month low of $3.04 and a 12-month high of $5.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $4.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.67.

Ferroglobe (NASDAQ:GSM) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $329.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.60 million. Ferroglobe had a negative net margin of 12.78% and a negative return on equity of 8.65%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ferroglobe will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferroglobe Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Ferroglobe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. Ferroglobe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -6.52%.

Insider Transactions at Ferroglobe

In other Ferroglobe news, Director De Fuentes Silvia Villar-Mir bought 26,000 shares of Ferroglobe stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.86 per share, with a total value of $100,360.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 121,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $467,932.36. This represents a 27.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Madrid Javier Lopez bought 26,000 shares of Ferroglobe stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.86 per share, for a total transaction of $100,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 147,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $568,192. This trade represents a 21.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 13.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ferroglobe

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in Ferroglobe during the 4th quarter valued at about $106,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ferroglobe by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 299,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 47,127 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Ferroglobe by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 817,763 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,794,000 after acquiring an additional 79,950 shares during the period. Old West Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ferroglobe by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 3,798,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,626,000 after acquiring an additional 560,867 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Resource Partners LP bought a new position in Ferroglobe during the 4th quarter valued at about $858,000. Institutional investors own 89.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GSM. Zacks Research raised shares of Ferroglobe from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ferroglobe from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ferroglobe in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.