Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) Short Interest Up 25.3% in February

Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,080,000 shares, a growth of 25.3% from the February 13th total of 1,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 983,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Ferroglobe Price Performance

Shares of GSM opened at $4.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $764.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 203.50 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.82. Ferroglobe has a one year low of $3.23 and a one year high of $6.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3.86 and its 200-day moving average is $4.12.

Ferroglobe (NASDAQ:GSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $367.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $393.00 million. Ferroglobe had a return on equity of 6.36% and a net margin of 0.32%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ferroglobe will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Ferroglobe Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.014 per share. This is a positive change from Ferroglobe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Ferroglobe’s payout ratio is presently 250.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Ferroglobe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com lowered Ferroglobe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GSM. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in Ferroglobe by 26.8% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 114,691 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 24,245 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in Ferroglobe by 3.6% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 2,726,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,653,000 after acquiring an additional 94,260 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Ferroglobe by 234.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,484,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,442,507 shares during the period. West Tower Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ferroglobe by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. West Tower Group LLC now owns 137,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ferroglobe by 60.3% in the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 369,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 139,002 shares during the period. 89.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.