AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $18.77, but opened at $19.50. AdvanSix shares last traded at $18.9050, with a volume of 60,739 shares traded.

The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.09. AdvanSix had a return on equity of 6.97% and a net margin of 3.24%.The business had revenue of $359.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $340.85 million.

AdvanSix Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. AdvanSix’s dividend payout ratio is 35.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ASIX shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AdvanSix from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AdvanSix from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of AdvanSix in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

Institutional Trading of AdvanSix

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in AdvanSix by 23.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 3,575 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AdvanSix by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 74,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,693,000 after acquiring an additional 19,668 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of AdvanSix by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of AdvanSix by 1,695.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 7,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of AdvanSix in the 2nd quarter valued at about $266,000. 86.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AdvanSix Stock Down 0.8%

The company has a market cap of $480.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.89 and a beta of 1.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

AdvanSix Company Profile

AdvanSix, Inc (NYSE: ASIX) is an integrated chemical manufacturer specializing in the production of nylon 6 intermediates and related co‐products. Established as a publicly traded spin‐off from Honeywell Specialty Chemicals in June 2016, the company is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.

The company’s principal product is caprolactam, the key building block for nylon 6 resin, used in fibers and engineering plastics across industries. In addition to caprolactam and nylon 6 resin, AdvanSix produces ammonium sulfate fertilizer and industrial chemicals such as phenol and acetone.