Short Interest in American Vanguard Co. (NYSE:AVD) Grows By 10.3%

American Vanguard Co. (NYSE:AVD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 935,600 shares, an increase of 10.3% from the December 15th total of 848,300 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 321,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insider Transactions at American Vanguard

In other news, Director Steven D. Macicek purchased 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.97 per share, with a total value of $71,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 31,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,371.46. This represents a 62.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 10.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AVD. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Vanguard by 67.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 520,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,475,000 after buying an additional 209,800 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Vanguard during the second quarter worth approximately $1,006,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of American Vanguard by 28.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 156,691 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 34,297 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Vanguard by 59.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 27,229 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Vanguard in the third quarter worth approximately $2,351,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded American Vanguard from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.67.

American Vanguard Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE AVD traded up $0.06 on Monday, hitting $5.08. 344,848 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 304,015. American Vanguard has a 52-week low of $4.26 and a 52-week high of $14.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.17 million, a P/E ratio of -4.93 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.06.

About American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection.