Arkema SA (OTCMKTS:ARKAY) Short Interest Up 173.3% in May

Arkema SA (OTCMKTS:ARKAY) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 1,741 shares, an increase of 173.3% from the May 14th total of 637 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,470 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ARKAY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Arkema from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Arkema in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Kepler Capital Markets lowered shares of Arkema from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Arkema from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Arkema from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Arkema Stock Performance

ARKAY opened at $66.77 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 267.08 and a beta of 0.84. Arkema has a 1 year low of $56.28 and a 1 year high of $79.36.

Arkema (OTCMKTS:ARKAY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Arkema had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arkema will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Arkema Company Profile

Arkema SA is a global specialty chemicals and advanced materials company headquartered in Colombes, France. Established in 2004 as a spin-off from Total’s chemicals division, the company offers a broad portfolio of high-performance materials designed to improve durability, thermal and chemical resistance, and environmental performance across diverse industries.

Arkema’s operations are organized into four core segments. Adhesive Solutions delivers bonding, sealing, and coating technologies for markets such as packaging, medical devices, and consumer goods.