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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecovyst

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecovyst during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in Ecovyst during the first quarter valued at $114,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecovyst in the fourth quarter valued at about $150,000. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ecovyst during the third quarter worth about $159,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecovyst during the 4th quarter worth about $184,000. 86.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of 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 target price on shares of Ecovyst in a research note on Friday, May 3rd.

Ecovyst Stock Performance

ECVT stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.97. The company had a trading volume of 5,323,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 722,493. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.60. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.50. Ecovyst has a twelve month low of $8.26 and a twelve month high of $12.35.

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

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.