Short Interest in Ecovyst Inc. (NYSE:ECVT) Grows By 28.0%

Ecovyst Inc. (NYSE:ECVT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,100,000 shares, an increase of 28.0% from the March 31st total of 1,640,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 766,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Ecovyst Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:ECVT opened at $9.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.61. Ecovyst has a fifty-two week low of $8.26 and a fifty-two week high of $12.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.01.

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.01). Ecovyst had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 10.30%. The firm had revenue of $172.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecovyst will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ecovyst from $11.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecovyst news, Director Susan F. Ward sold 24,436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.28, for a total value of $251,202.08. Following the transaction, the director now owns 67,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,794.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecovyst

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Ecovyst by 4.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 407,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,013,000 after buying an additional 16,734 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Ecovyst by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 5,334 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ecovyst by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 6,131 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Ecovyst by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Ecovyst by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 722,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,107,000 after purchasing an additional 33,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.69% of the company’s stock.

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.