American Vanguard Co. (NYSE:AVD) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

American Vanguard Co. (NYSE:AVD) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 935,600 shares, an increase of 10.3% from the December 15th total of 848,300 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 321,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insider Transactions at American Vanguard

In related news, Director Steven D. Macicek bought 12,000 shares of American Vanguard stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.97 per share, with a total value of $71,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,218 shares in the company, valued at $186,371.46. The trade was a 62.44 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 10.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd grew its stake in American Vanguard by 195.7% in the second quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 5,080 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 3,362 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Vanguard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of American Vanguard by 64.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 4,429 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of American Vanguard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in American Vanguard during the third quarter valued at approximately $104,000. 79.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded American Vanguard from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Vanguard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

American Vanguard Stock Up 1.1 %

AVD stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Monday, hitting $5.08. 344,848 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 304,015. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.17 million, a P/E ratio of -4.93 and a beta of 0.91. American Vanguard has a 1 year low of $4.26 and a 1 year high of $14.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.06.

American Vanguard Company Profile

American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection.