BWS Financial Reaffirms Buy Rating for Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT)

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at BWS Financial in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $12.00 target price on the stock. BWS Financial's price target points to a potential upside of 57.27% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Ecovyst from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ecovyst from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th.

Ecovyst Price Performance

NYSE ECVT traded up $0.97 on Friday, reaching $7.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,431,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 875,710. Ecovyst has a twelve month low of $6.02 and a twelve month high of $11.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.72. The firm's 50 day moving average is $6.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.15. The stock has a market cap of $888.67 million, a PE ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.01.

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $182.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.79 million. Ecovyst had a net margin of 8.14% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecovyst will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecovyst

In related news, insider Paul Whittleston purchased 7,800 shares of Ecovyst stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.50 per share, with a total value of $50,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $374,023. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Paul Whittleston purchased 7,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $6.50 per share, with a total value of $50,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 57,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $374,023. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph S. Koscinski acquired 4,807 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $6.26 per share, with a total value of $30,091.82. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 544,609 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,409,252.34. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.59% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecovyst

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Ecovyst by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 739,400 shares of the company's stock worth $8,244,000 after purchasing an additional 17,100 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecovyst by 18.0% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,605 shares of the company's stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 8,032 shares in the last quarter. Steamboat Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Ecovyst by 1.7% during the first quarter. Steamboat Capital Partners LLC now owns 312,821 shares of the company's stock worth $3,488,000 after buying an additional 5,209 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Ecovyst by 58.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 521,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,811,000 after buying an additional 191,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecovyst by 8.5% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 16,635 shares of the company's stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.69% of the company's stock.

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.