AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a buy rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of AdvanSix in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th.

AdvanSix Trading Up 1.3 %

ASIX opened at $28.15 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $754.95 million, a P/E ratio of 938.33 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $24.46 and its 200-day moving average is $25.59. AdvanSix has a 1-year low of $20.86 and a 1-year high of $37.86.

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $453.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.80 million. AdvanSix had a net margin of 0.15% and a return on equity of 0.06%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that AdvanSix will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AdvanSix Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 13th. AdvanSix’s payout ratio is 2,133.33%.

Insider Activity at AdvanSix

In related news, CEO Erin N. Kane sold 1,558 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total transaction of $43,452.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 536,237 shares in the company, valued at $14,955,649.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,258 shares of company stock valued at $61,247. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AdvanSix

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASIX. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in AdvanSix by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,579,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,271,000 after acquiring an additional 401,322 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in AdvanSix by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 593,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,611,000 after purchasing an additional 30,500 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in AdvanSix by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 459,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,145,000 after purchasing an additional 52,200 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AdvanSix by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 437,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,104,000 after purchasing an additional 24,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of AdvanSix by 2.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 359,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,237,000 after purchasing an additional 7,925 shares during the period. 86.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AdvanSix Company Profile

AdvanSix Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of polymer resins in the United States and internationally. It offers Nylon 6, a polymer resin, which is a synthetic material used to produce fibers, filaments, engineered plastics, and films. The company also provides caprolactam to manufacture polymer resins; ammonium sulfate fertilizers to distributors, farm cooperatives, and retailers; and acetone that are used in the production of adhesives, paints, coatings, solvents, herbicides, and engineered plastic resins, as well as other intermediate chemicals, including phenol, monoisopropylamine, dipropylamine, monoallylamine, alpha-methylstyrene, cyclohexanone, methyl ethyl ketoxime, acetaldehyde oxime, 2-pentanone oxime, cyclohexanol, sulfuric acid, ammonia, and carbon dioxide.