Basf Se (OTCMKTS:BASFY) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Basf Se (OTCMKTS:BASFY) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 58,700 shares, a growth of 124.0% from the January 31st total of 26,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 645,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days.

Basf Stock Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS BASFY traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $12.66. 143,488 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 241,030. The stock has a market cap of $45.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.13, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Basf has a 12-month low of $10.57 and a 12-month high of $14.89.

Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. Basf had a return on equity of 6.63% and a net margin of 0.78%. The company had revenue of $16.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.72 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Basf will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Basf from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Berenberg Bank lowered Basf from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Basf from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Basf Company Profile

BASF SE operates as a chemical company worldwide. It operates through six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. The Chemicals segment provides petrochemicals and intermediates. The Materials segment offers advanced materials and their precursors for applications and systems comprising isocyanates, polyamides, and inorganic basic products, as well as specialties for plastics and plastics processing industries.