Ferroglobe (NASDAQ:GSM) Trading Up 9.6% – Time to Buy?

Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) traded up 9.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $5.18 and last traded at $5.27. 576,200 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 1,223,396 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GSM. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ferroglobe from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ferroglobe from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on shares of Ferroglobe from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ferroglobe in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

Ferroglobe Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $953.68 million, a P/E ratio of -5.55 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50-day moving average is $4.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Ferroglobe (NASDAQ:GSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.01. Ferroglobe had a negative net margin of 12.78% and a negative return on equity of 8.65%. The firm had revenue of $329.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.60 million. As a group, analysts predict that Ferroglobe PLC will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferroglobe Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Ferroglobe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. Ferroglobe’s dividend payout ratio is -6.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ferroglobe

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GSM. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ferroglobe by 168.8% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,110,759 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,121,000 after purchasing an additional 697,476 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ferroglobe by 32.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 331,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 81,611 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ferroglobe by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 329,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 40,731 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ferroglobe during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,082,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ferroglobe by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,581,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ferroglobe Company Profile

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.