Ecovyst Inc. (NYSE:ECVT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Ecovyst Inc. (NYSE:ECVT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,670,000 shares, an increase of 69.4% from the May 31st total of 985,600 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 743,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecovyst

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecovyst during the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Ecovyst during the 1st quarter valued at about $114,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecovyst during the 4th quarter valued at about $150,000. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ecovyst during the 3rd quarter valued at about $159,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecovyst by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 16,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the period. 86.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecovyst Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ECVT traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.97. The stock had a trading volume of 5,323,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 722,493. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.05. Ecovyst has a 1-year low of $8.26 and a 1-year high of $12.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.60.

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $160.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.56 million. Ecovyst had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 10.83%. On average, analysts predict that Ecovyst will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECVT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ecovyst from $11.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BWS Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Ecovyst in a research note on Friday, May 3rd.

Ecovyst Company Profile

Ecovyst Inc offers specialty catalysts and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Ecoservices and Advanced Materials & Catalysts. The Ecoservices segment provides sulfuric acid recycling services and end-to-end logistics for production of alkylate for refineries; and virgin sulfuric acid for mining, water treatment, and industrial applications.