AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $22.33, but opened at $21.32. AdvanSix shares last traded at $21.3890, with a volume of 4,210 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ASIX. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AdvanSix from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered AdvanSix from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research raised AdvanSix to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered AdvanSix from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $25.00 price target on AdvanSix in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $22.50.

AdvanSix Stock Up 0.6%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.74 and a 200-day moving average of $19.90. The company has a market capitalization of $577.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.04 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.02). AdvanSix had a net margin of 0.67% and a return on equity of 2.18%. The business had revenue of $404.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.90 million. On average, equities analysts predict that AdvanSix will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AdvanSix Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. AdvanSix’s dividend payout ratio is currently 172.97%.

Institutional Trading of AdvanSix

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASIX. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in AdvanSix by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AdvanSix by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 74,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 19,668 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in AdvanSix by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in AdvanSix by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in AdvanSix by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 120,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,853,000 after purchasing an additional 3,696 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.39% of the company’s stock.

AdvanSix Company Profile

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.