Braskem (NYSE:BAK) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Braskem S.A. (NYSE:BAK)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $1.10, but opened at $1.17. Braskem shares last traded at $1.2750, with a volume of 2,404,140 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Braskem to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded Braskem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $6.50 to $1.50 in a report on Monday, September 28th. UBS Group cut shares of Braskem from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $4.00 to $1.50 in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Braskem in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Braskem currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $2.56.

Braskem Stock Down 11.5%

The company has a market cap of $476.33 million, a P/E ratio of -0.49, a PEG ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.05.

Braskem (NYSE:BAK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 26th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter. Braskem had a negative return on equity of 67.75% and a negative net margin of 7.28%. The business had revenue of $4.20 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that Braskem S.A. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Braskem by 393.2% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 25,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 20,015 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of Braskem during the 1st quarter worth $51,000. Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Braskem during the second quarter worth $89,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems grew its holdings in shares of Braskem by 24.7% during the third quarter. Ramsey Quantitative Systems now owns 79,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 15,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Braskem in the first quarter worth $157,000.

Braskem Company Profile

Braskem SA is a Brazil-based petrochemical company that produces basic chemicals and thermoplastic resins used in packaging, construction, automotive components, consumer goods, agriculture and other industrial applications. Its product portfolio includes polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride, as well as inputs such as ethylene, propylene and other petrochemical intermediates.

Founded in 2002 through the combination of several Brazilian petrochemical businesses, Braskem developed into one of Latin America’s largest petrochemical producers.