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

Basf Se (OTCMKTS:BASFY) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 52,600 shares, a growth of 182.8% from the March 31st total of 18,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 325,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BASFY. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Basf from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Basf in a report on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Basf Trading Down 0.1 %

OTCMKTS BASFY opened at $13.68 on Friday. Basf has a 12 month low of $10.66 and a 12 month high of $14.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.58. The stock has a market cap of $49.49 billion, a PE ratio of 228.00, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The basic materials company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter. Basf had a return on equity of 6.25% and a net margin of 0.32%. The company had revenue of $17.09 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Basf will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Basf Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.6594 dividend. This is a boost from Basf’s previous dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Basf’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,083.33%.

About Basf

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.