Investors Buy Large Volume of Ferroglobe Call Options (NASDAQ:GSM)

Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 4,553 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 457% compared to the typical volume of 817 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GSM. Seaport Res Ptn cut Ferroglobe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com lowered Ferroglobe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Institutional Trading of Ferroglobe

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ferroglobe by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 163,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 2,615 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ferroglobe by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 225,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 2,760 shares during the period. West Tower Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ferroglobe by 3.8% during the third quarter. West Tower Group LLC now owns 137,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Ferroglobe by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 22,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 7,271 shares during the period. Finally, Qtron Investments LLC increased its stake in Ferroglobe by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 22,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares during the last quarter. 89.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ferroglobe Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GSM opened at $3.79 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market capitalization of $712.08 million, a P/E ratio of 189.50 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.11. Ferroglobe has a twelve month low of $3.23 and a twelve month high of $6.19.

Ferroglobe (NASDAQ:GSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. Ferroglobe had a net margin of 0.32% and a return on equity of 6.36%. The business had revenue of $367.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $393.00 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Ferroglobe will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferroglobe Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.014 per share. This is an increase from Ferroglobe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Ferroglobe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

About Ferroglobe

Ferroglobe PLC produces and sells silicon metal, and silicon and manganese-based ferroalloys in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It provides silicone chemicals that are used in a range of applications, including personal care items, construction-related products, health care products, and electronics; and silicon metal for primary and secondary aluminum producers.