Braskem S.A. (BAK) – What Are Investment Firms Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of Braskem S.A. (NYSE:BAK) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Strong Sell” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $2.56.

BAK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered Braskem from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $4.00 to $1.50 in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Braskem to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded shares of Braskem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $6.50 to $1.50 in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Braskem in a report on Thursday, October 15th.

Braskem Stock Performance

Shares of BAK stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1.14. 798,359 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,192,145. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.91. The company has a market capitalization of $452.81 million, a P/E ratio of -0.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.06 and a beta of 1.68. Braskem has a fifty-two week low of $0.74 and a fifty-two week high of $5.39.

Braskem (NYSE:BAK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.52) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.54). Braskem had a negative return on equity of 67.75% and a negative net margin of 7.28%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Braskem will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Braskem

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Braskem by 393.2% in the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 25,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 20,015 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in shares of Braskem during the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Braskem in the second quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems lifted its holdings in shares of Braskem by 24.7% in the third quarter. Ramsey Quantitative Systems now owns 79,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 15,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Braskem in the third quarter worth $156,000.

Braskem Company Profile

Braskem is a Brazilian petrochemical company that produces thermoplastic resins and basic petrochemicals used in packaging, construction, automotive manufacturing, consumer goods and other industries. Its products include polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride, as well as chemical building blocks such as ethylene and propylene. The company also makes bio-based plastics, including polyethylene produced from sugarcane-derived ethanol and marketed under its I’m green brand. These materials are designed to serve applications similar to those of conventional plastics.