Short Interest in Akzo Nobel NV (OTCMKTS:AKZOY) Rises By 343.7%

Akzo Nobel NV (OTCMKTS:AKZOY) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 50,070 shares, a growth of 343.7% from the May 14th total of 11,284 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 228,409 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AKZOY shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Akzo Nobel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Akzo Nobel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Akzo Nobel from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Akzo Nobel in a research note on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Akzo Nobel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Akzo Nobel has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Akzo Nobel Price Performance

AKZOY stock opened at $21.85 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $20.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.54. Akzo Nobel has a 12-month low of $18.04 and a 12-month high of $25.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Akzo Nobel (OTCMKTS:AKZOY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.05. Akzo Nobel had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 13.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Akzo Nobel will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Akzo Nobel Company Profile

Akzo Nobel N.V. is a Dutch multinational company specializing in paints, coatings and specialty chemicals. Established through the 1994 merger of Akzo and Nobel Industries, the company traces its roots back to chemical and saltpeter production in the Netherlands. Today, Akzo Nobel is recognized as one of the world’s leading coatings manufacturers, serving both decorative and industrial markets.

The company’s business is organized into three principal segments: Decorative Paints, Performance Coatings and Specialty Chemicals.