AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of AdvanSix in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th.

AdvanSix Price Performance

AdvanSix stock opened at $28.15 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $754.95 million, a PE ratio of 938.33 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $24.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.59. AdvanSix has a one year low of $20.86 and a one year high of $37.86.

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $453.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.80 million. AdvanSix had a return on equity of 0.06% and a net margin of 0.15%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AdvanSix will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AdvanSix Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. AdvanSix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,133.33%.

Insider Activity at AdvanSix

In related news, CEO Erin N. Kane sold 1,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total transaction of $43,452.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 536,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,955,649.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,258 shares of company stock worth $61,247. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in AdvanSix by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,579,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,271,000 after buying an additional 401,322 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of AdvanSix by 5.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 593,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,611,000 after acquiring an additional 30,500 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AdvanSix by 12.8% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 459,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,145,000 after acquiring an additional 52,200 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AdvanSix by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 437,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,104,000 after purchasing an additional 24,543 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of AdvanSix by 2.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 359,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,237,000 after purchasing an additional 7,925 shares during the last quarter. 86.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AdvanSix Company Profile

AdvanSix Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of polymer resins in the United States and internationally. It offers Nylon 6, a polymer resin, which is a synthetic material used to produce fibers, filaments, engineered plastics, and films. The company also provides caprolactam to manufacture polymer resins; ammonium sulfate fertilizers to distributors, farm cooperatives, and retailers; and acetone that are used in the production of adhesives, paints, coatings, solvents, herbicides, and engineered plastic resins, as well as other intermediate chemicals, including phenol, monoisopropylamine, dipropylamine, monoallylamine, alpha-methylstyrene, cyclohexanone, methyl ethyl ketoxime, acetaldehyde oxime, 2-pentanone oxime, cyclohexanol, sulfuric acid, ammonia, and carbon dioxide.