Emerald (NYSE:EEX) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE:EEX) shares saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 328,227 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 257% from the previous session’s volume of 91,918 shares.The stock last traded at $5.0050 and had previously closed at $4.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Emerald in a report on Friday, May 8th. Maxim Group lowered shares of Emerald from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5.03 price objective (down from $7.70) on shares of Emerald in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.03.

Emerald Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $988.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.29 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.46.

Emerald (NYSE:EEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $155.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $155.40 million. Emerald had a negative return on equity of 10.81% and a negative net margin of 8.24%.

Emerald Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Emerald’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -31.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EEX. MSD Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Emerald by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. MSD Partners L.P. now owns 1,400,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,260,000 after buying an additional 333,701 shares during the last quarter. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Emerald by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 879,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,474,000 after buying an additional 95,138 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Emerald by 197.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 92,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 61,273 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Emerald by 239.7% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 82,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 57,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Emerald in the 1st quarter worth about $116,000. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Emerald Company Profile

Emerald (NYSE: EEX) is a global provider of independent data, news and analytics for commodity, financial and energy markets. The company operates digital platforms that deliver real-time and historical price assessments, market commentary, research reports and risk-management tools. Its subscriber base spans traders, asset managers, corporate hedgers and financial institutions seeking timely intelligence to support trading, risk management and investment decisions.

Serving clients across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, Emerald covers a broad range of markets including metals, energy products, agriculture, freight, environmental emissions and treasury benchmarks.