Basf Se (OTCMKTS:BASFY) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Basf Se (OTCMKTS:BASFY) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 58,700 shares, a growth of 124.0% from the January 31st total of 26,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 645,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days.

Basf Price Performance

OTCMKTS:BASFY traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $12.66. The stock had a trading volume of 143,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 241,030. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.20 billion, a PE ratio of 79.13, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.19. Basf has a 52 week low of $10.57 and a 52 week high of $14.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.98.

Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.05. Basf had a net margin of 0.78% and a return on equity of 6.63%. The company had revenue of $16.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.72 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Basf will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BASFY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Basf from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Basf from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Basf from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Basf Company Profile

BASF SE operates as a chemical company worldwide. It operates through six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. The Chemicals segment provides petrochemicals and intermediates. The Materials segment offers advanced materials and their precursors for applications and systems comprising isocyanates, polyamides, and inorganic basic products, as well as specialties for plastics and plastics processing industries.