Basf Se (OTCMKTS:BASFY) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Basf Se (OTCMKTS:BASFY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,900 shares, a growth of 18.8% from the December 15th total of 1,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 581,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Basf in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. UBS Group lowered Basf from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Basf from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup upgraded Basf to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Basf from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Basf Stock Performance

BASFY stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $11.36. The company had a trading volume of 117,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 253,252. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.56 billion, a PE ratio of 71.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.19. Basf has a fifty-two week low of $10.57 and a fifty-two week high of $14.89.

Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter. Basf had a return on equity of 6.63% and a net margin of 0.78%. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Basf will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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.