Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BWS Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of Ecovyst in a research note on Monday, November 10th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Ecovyst from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ecovyst in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ecovyst from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Ecovyst from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.40.

Ecovyst Stock Performance

NYSE:ECVT opened at $9.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.84, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.58. Ecovyst has a twelve month low of $5.24 and a twelve month high of $9.69.

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.02). Ecovyst had a negative net margin of 14.34% and a positive return on equity of 8.93%. The company had revenue of $204.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.74 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ecovyst will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecovyst by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,106,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,063,000 after buying an additional 203,801 shares during the period. Simplex Trading LLC bought a new position in Ecovyst in the first quarter worth about $116,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Ecovyst in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,448,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Ecovyst by 39.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 379,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,355,000 after acquiring an additional 107,761 shares during the period. Finally, First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecovyst by 12.6% during the first quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. now owns 2,219,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,761,000 after purchasing an additional 247,794 shares during the last quarter. 86.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ecovyst

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.