Ferroglobe Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:GSM)

Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 4,553 call options on the company. This is an increase of 457% compared to the average daily volume of 817 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Ferroglobe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com cut Ferroglobe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Ferroglobe Price Performance

Shares of Ferroglobe stock traded up $0.01 on Tuesday, hitting $3.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,178,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,176,629. The company has a market capitalization of $715.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 190.50 and a beta of 1.89. Ferroglobe has a 1 year low of $3.23 and a 1 year high of $6.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.11.

Ferroglobe (NASDAQ:GSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $367.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $393.00 million. Ferroglobe had a net margin of 0.32% and a return on equity of 6.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ferroglobe will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferroglobe Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.014 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. This is a boost from Ferroglobe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. Ferroglobe’s dividend payout ratio is presently 250.00%.

Institutional Trading of Ferroglobe

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GSM. State Street Corp boosted its position in Ferroglobe by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 163,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $757,000 after acquiring an additional 2,615 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ferroglobe by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 225,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 2,760 shares during the last quarter. West Tower Group LLC lifted its position in Ferroglobe by 3.8% during the third quarter. West Tower Group LLC now owns 137,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Ferroglobe by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 22,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 7,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qtron Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Ferroglobe by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 22,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 7,396 shares during the last quarter. 89.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ferroglobe

Ferroglobe PLC produces and sells silicon metal, and silicon and manganese-based ferroalloys in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It provides silicone chemicals that are used in a range of applications, including personal care items, construction-related products, health care products, and electronics; and silicon metal for primary and secondary aluminum producers.