Short Interest in Sappi Ltd. (OTCMKTS:SPPJY) Rises By 625.3%

Sappi Ltd. (OTCMKTS:SPPJY) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 192,128 shares, an increase of 625.3% from the June 15th total of 26,490 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 42,365 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Sappi Price Performance

Shares of Sappi stock remained flat at $0.69 on Monday. 6,963 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,063. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.35. Sappi has a 1 year low of $0.59 and a 1 year high of $1.89. The firm has a market cap of $418.37 million, a PE ratio of -0.62 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $0.79 and a 200-day moving average of $1.07.

Sappi (OTCMKTS:SPPJY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Sappi had a negative net margin of 12.70% and a negative return on equity of 4.85%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sappi will post -0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Zacks Research lowered shares of Sappi from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Sell”.

About Sappi

Sappi Limited, trading on the OTCMKTS as SPPJY, is a global pulp and paper company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. Originally established in 1936 as South African Pulp and Paper Industries, Sappi has grown into a diversified manufacturer of dissolving wood pulp, graphic papers, packaging and specialty papers. The company serves customers in over 150 countries and operates a network of mills and sales offices across three key regions: Europe, North America and South Africa.

Sappi’s product portfolio is organized into several main categories.