Braskem (NYSE:BAK) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Braskem S.A. (NYSE:BAK)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $1.40 and last traded at $1.4250, with a volume of 1882057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on BAK. HSBC cut Braskem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $6.50 to $1.50 in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Braskem from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Braskem in a research note on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Braskem from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $4.00 to $1.50 in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Braskem from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $2.56.

Braskem Stock Up 7.2%

The company has a market cap of $619.82 million, a P/E ratio of -0.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.09 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.00.

Braskem (NYSE:BAK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 26th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $4.20 billion for the quarter. Braskem had a negative return on equity of 67.75% and a negative net margin of 7.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Braskem S.A. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Braskem

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in Braskem by 192.8% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 68,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 44,905 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Braskem during the 2nd quarter worth $89,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems bought a new stake in shares of Braskem during the 2nd quarter valued at $155,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Braskem by 178,471.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 49,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklands Fund Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Braskem in the 1st quarter valued at $2,013,000.

About Braskem

Braskem SA is a Brazilian petrochemical company headquartered in São Paulo. Established in 2002 through the combination of Odebrecht Química and the petrochemical company Copene, Braskem has developed into one of Latin America’s major producers of thermoplastic resins and basic petrochemicals.

The company manufactures polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which are used in packaging, construction, automotive components, consumer goods and other industrial applications.