AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) Trading Up 8.3% – Here’s What Happened

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) shot up 8.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $19.74 and last traded at $19.98. 171,250 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 383,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASIX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Loop Capital set a $25.00 target price on AdvanSix in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AdvanSix from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AdvanSix from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of AdvanSix in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AdvanSix currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.00.

AdvanSix Stock Up 9.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $543.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $17.91 and its 200 day moving average is $18.20.

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $359.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $340.85 million. AdvanSix had a return on equity of 6.97% and a net margin of 3.24%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AdvanSix will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

AdvanSix Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. AdvanSix’s payout ratio is presently 35.36%.

Institutional Trading of AdvanSix

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in AdvanSix during the fourth quarter valued at $246,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of AdvanSix by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 144,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 14,084 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AdvanSix in the 4th quarter valued at about $443,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of AdvanSix in the fourth quarter worth about $984,000. Finally, Polymer Capital Management US LLC acquired a new stake in AdvanSix during the fourth quarter worth about $386,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.39% of the company’s stock.

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.