Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) Rating Reiterated by BWS Financial

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at BWS Financial in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 target price on the stock. BWS Financial’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 83.67% from the stock’s current price.

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

Ecovyst Price Performance

NYSE ECVT traded down $0.19 on Friday, hitting $9.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,105,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 565,906. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $9.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.05. Ecovyst has a 12-month low of $8.26 and a 12-month high of $12.35.

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $172.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.31 million. Ecovyst had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ecovyst will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ecovyst

In related news, Director Susan F. Ward sold 24,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.28, for a total transaction of $251,202.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,794.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecovyst in the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Ecovyst in the third quarter valued at $88,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecovyst by 27.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 2,856 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Ecovyst in the 3rd quarter valued at about $147,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ecovyst during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $150,000. 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.