Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (NYSE:RYAM) Short Interest Up 28.7% in March

Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (NYSE:RYAM) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,440,100 shares, an increase of 28.7% from the February 26th total of 1,896,406 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,491,321 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RYAM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Rayonier Advanced Materials from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rayonier Advanced Materials 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 Rayonier Advanced Materials in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RYAM. Nantahala Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rayonier Advanced Materials by 252.6% during the 4th quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 1,800,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289,490 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Rayonier Advanced Materials by 177.3% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,359,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,817,000 after purchasing an additional 869,486 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Rayonier Advanced Materials by 156.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 783,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,657,000 after purchasing an additional 478,500 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Rayonier Advanced Materials by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 968,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,706,000 after purchasing an additional 373,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Rayonier Advanced Materials by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,687,949 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,942,000 after buying an additional 348,589 shares during the period. 68.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rayonier Advanced Materials Price Performance

Shares of RYAM traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $11.08. 704,186 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,084,597. The stock has a market capitalization of $742.74 million, a PE ratio of -1.75 and a beta of 2.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.61. Rayonier Advanced Materials has a fifty-two week low of $3.35 and a fifty-two week high of $11.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Rayonier Advanced Materials (NYSE:RYAM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The basic materials company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $417.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.07 million. Rayonier Advanced Materials had a negative net margin of 28.65% and a negative return on equity of 19.70%. As a group, research analysts predict that Rayonier Advanced Materials will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Rayonier Advanced Materials

Rayonier Advanced Materials, Inc is a publicly traded specialty bioproducts company focused on the production of high-purity cellulose and engineered wood products. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company operates a network of manufacturing facilities across North America, New Zealand and Europe. Its cellulose specialties business produces dissolving pulps and high-purity fibers that serve a range of end markets, including food and beverage, personal care, pharmaceuticals and textiles.