Braskem S.A. (NYSE:BAK) Short Interest Update

Braskem S.A. (NYSE:BAK) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,059,110 shares, an increase of 77.0% from the August 15th total of 3,422,532 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,731,655 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Braskem Price Performance

NYSE:BAK opened at $1.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $711.51 million, a P/E ratio of -0.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.11 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.21. Braskem has a 12-month low of $1.40 and a 12-month high of $5.39.

Braskem (NYSE:BAK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, June 26th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Braskem will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Braskem

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Braskem by 444.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 7,003 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Braskem in the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Braskem during the second quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Braskem during the first quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Braskem by 178,471.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 49,972 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BAK shares. UBS Group cut Braskem from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $4.00 to $1.50 in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup downgraded Braskem from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Braskem from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Braskem in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $2.83.

Braskem Company Profile

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.