Ferro Co. (NYSE:FOE) – Research analysts at Seaport Global Securities upped their Q4 2019 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Ferro in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 1st, Zacks Investment Research reports. Seaport Global Securities analyst M. Harrison now forecasts that the specialty chemicals company will post earnings per share of $0.40 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.39.
FOE has been the topic of several other research reports. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Ferro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 28th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Ferro from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Ferro from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank dropped their price objective on shares of Ferro from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Ferro from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $18.83 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.17.
NYSE:FOE traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $14.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 411,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 675,502. Ferro has a fifty-two week low of $13.95 and a fifty-two week high of $23.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 9.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.73.
Ferro (NYSE:FOE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. Ferro had a net margin of 4.41% and a return on equity of 30.06%. The company had revenue of $387.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Ferro’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis.
In related news, Director Allen A. Spizzo acquired 2,500 shares of Ferro stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.90 per share, for a total transaction of $39,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,500 shares in the company, valued at $39,750. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Benjamin Schlater sold 3,435 shares of Ferro stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $68,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $407,760. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 24,500 shares of company stock worth $387,490. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ferro by 0.6% in the first quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 109,860 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,080,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ferro by 1.7% during the first quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 44,035 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ferro by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 10,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ferro by 1.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Ferro by 177.6% during the first quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,524 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.24% of the company’s stock.
Ferro Company Profile
Ferro Corporation produces specialty materials in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Performance Coatings, Performance Colors and Glass, and Color Solutions. The company offers frits, porcelain and other glass enamels, glazes, stains, decorating colors, pigments, inks, polishing materials, dielectrics, electronic glasses, and other specialty coatings.