AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

AdvanSix Inc. (NYSE:ASIX) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $21.30, but opened at $23.18. AdvanSix shares last traded at $23.39, with a volume of 60,312 shares.

The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.40. The company had revenue of $329.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.15 million. AdvanSix had a return on equity of 6.26% and a net margin of 2.91%.

AdvanSix Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. AdvanSix’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded AdvanSix from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on AdvanSix in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of AdvanSix from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AdvanSix news, SVP Achilles B. Kintiroglou sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.24, for a total transaction of $88,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $808,713.12. This represents a 9.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Erin N. Kane sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.19, for a total value of $150,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 502,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,179,381.05. The trade was a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AdvanSix

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AdvanSix during the fourth quarter worth $1,403,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in AdvanSix by 319.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 42,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after buying an additional 32,706 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of AdvanSix by 14.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 104,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,177,000 after buying an additional 13,316 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AdvanSix by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 740,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,083,000 after buying an additional 100,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AdvanSix in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $663,000. Institutional investors own 86.39% of the company’s stock.

AdvanSix Trading Up 6.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $607.74 million, a PE ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $22.59 and its 200 day moving average is $27.46.

AdvanSix Company Profile

AdvanSix Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of polymer resins in the United States and internationally. It offers Nylon 6, a polymer resin, which is a synthetic material used to produce fibers, filaments, engineered plastics, and films. The company also provides caprolactam to manufacture polymer resins; ammonium sulfate fertilizers to distributors, farm cooperatives, and retailers; and acetone that are used in the production of adhesives, paints, coatings, solvents, herbicides, and engineered plastic resins, as well as other intermediate chemicals, including phenol, monoisopropylamine, dipropylamine, monoallylamine, alpha-methylstyrene, cyclohexanone, methyl ethyl ketoxime, acetaldehyde oxime, 2-pentanone oxime, cyclohexanol, sulfuric acid, ammonia, and carbon dioxide.