Ferroglobe (NASDAQ:GSM) Trading Up 5.5% on Insider Buying Activity

Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ:GSM) was up 5.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock traded as high as $4.57 and last traded at $4.4320. Approximately 257,728 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 1,315,898 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.20.

Specifically, Chairman Madrid Javier Lopez bought 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.86 per share, for a total transaction of $100,360.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman owned 147,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $568,192. The trade was a 21.45% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director De Fuentes Silvia Villar-Mir purchased 26,000 shares of Ferroglobe stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.86 per share, with a total value of $100,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 121,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $467,932.36. The trade was a 27.30% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GSM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Ferroglobe from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Ferroglobe from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ferroglobe in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

Ferroglobe Trading Up 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.67. The stock has a market cap of $802.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.67 and a beta of 0.93.

Ferroglobe (NASDAQ:GSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $329.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.60 million. Ferroglobe had a negative return on equity of 8.65% and a negative net margin of 12.78%. Equities analysts forecast that Ferroglobe PLC will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferroglobe Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change from Ferroglobe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. Ferroglobe’s payout ratio is -6.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ferroglobe

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GSM. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ferroglobe by 14.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 19,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 2,494 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Ferroglobe by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,509 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 2,617 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Ferroglobe by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 14,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,670 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in Ferroglobe by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 8,334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 2,740 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Ferroglobe by 66.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,902 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 3,146 shares during the period. 89.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ferroglobe Company Profile

Ferroglobe PLC is a leading producer of specialty metals and alloys, serving a diverse range of industrial customers worldwide. The company’s core operations focus on the manufacture of silicon metal, silicon-based alloys, manganese-based alloys and rare earth alloys, which are essential inputs for the aluminum, steel, chemical and electronics industries. Ferroglobe’s product portfolio includes high-purity silicon, ferrosilicon, silicon manganese, manganese alloys and various recarburizers used to enhance metal strength, durability and conductivity.

With production facilities located across North America, Europe, South America and Africa, Ferroglobe maintains a global footprint that allows it to supply customers on multiple continents.