American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) Short Interest Up 35.3% in March

American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 949,010 shares, an increase of 35.3% from the March 15th total of 701,243 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 741,253 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 3.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of American Vanguard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of American Vanguard by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,700,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,495,000 after purchasing an additional 71,632 shares in the last quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of American Vanguard by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC now owns 1,398,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,030,000 after buying an additional 150,703 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Vanguard by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 639,301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,506,000 after buying an additional 13,657 shares in the last quarter. EVR Research LP boosted its stake in shares of American Vanguard by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. EVR Research LP now owns 618,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,363,000 after buying an additional 278,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Potomac Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Vanguard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,751,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.00% of the company’s stock.

American Vanguard Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of AVD stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $2.75. The company had a trading volume of 64,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 312,007. The company has a market cap of $78.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.57 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 0.93. American Vanguard has a 12 month low of $2.05 and a 12 month high of $5.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.32.

American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $150.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.00 million. American Vanguard had a negative return on equity of 5.13% and a negative net margin of 9.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of American Vanguard in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

About American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE: AVD) is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemical products for crop protection, turf and ornamental care, and public health pest control. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, the company offers a portfolio of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides designed for use across agricultural, turf and urban pest management applications. Its research and development efforts focus on novel chemistries and formulation technologies that address emerging pest resistance and regulatory requirements.

The company’s product lines include emulsifiable concentrates, wettable powders, granular formulations, baits and liquid concentrates sold under proprietary brand names.