AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on ASIX. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AdvanSix from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research raised AdvanSix to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AdvanSix has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

AdvanSix Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of ASIX stock opened at $16.21 on Friday. AdvanSix has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $26.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $437.02 million, a P/E ratio of -24.56 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.37). AdvanSix had a negative net margin of 1.14% and a negative return on equity of 1.28%. The company had revenue of $421.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $452.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AdvanSix will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

AdvanSix Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. AdvanSix’s payout ratio is currently -96.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AdvanSix

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASIX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AdvanSix in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in AdvanSix by 60.2% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in AdvanSix by 27,537.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,203 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in AdvanSix by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in AdvanSix by 144.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. 86.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AdvanSix

AdvanSix, Inc (NYSE: ASIX) is an integrated chemical manufacturer specializing in the production of nylon 6 intermediates and related co?products. Established as a publicly traded spin?off from Honeywell Specialty Chemicals in June 2016, the company is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.

The company’s principal product is caprolactam, the key building block for nylon 6 resin, used in fibers and engineering plastics across industries. In addition to caprolactam and nylon 6 resin, AdvanSix produces ammonium sulfate fertilizer and industrial chemicals such as phenol and acetone.