Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Ecovyst Inc. (NYSE:ECVT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $10.01 and last traded at $9.89, with a volume of 1135114 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.82.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Ecovyst from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ecovyst from $8.50 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. BWS Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Ecovyst in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Ecovyst from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.60.

Ecovyst Stock Down 0.9%

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $8.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 positive return on equity of 8.93% and a negative net margin of 14.34%.The business had revenue of $204.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.74 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecovyst Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecovyst

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ECVT. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Ecovyst by 120.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 10,400,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,692,653 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ecovyst in the third quarter valued at $25,045,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Ecovyst by 321.1% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,242,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,785,000 after buying an additional 2,472,377 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Ecovyst during the third quarter worth about $16,729,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Ecovyst by 221.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,590,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,086,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.69% of the company’s stock.

About Ecovyst

Ecovyst Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets performance-enhancing products for industrial applications. The company’s core offerings include catalysts, phosphorus-based additives and barium carbonate materials, all designed to improve process efficiency, product quality and environmental performance. Ecovyst serves a diverse customer base in the energy, refining, chemical, polymer, food and consumer goods industries.

The company’s Catalysts segment supplies fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and hydroprocessing catalysts that help petroleum refiners maximize fuel yield, reduce sulfur emissions and meet increasingly stringent environmental standards.