Short Interest in American Vanguard Co. (NYSE:AVD) Drops By 35.7%

American Vanguard Co. (NYSE:AVD) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 906,600 shares, a drop of 35.7% from the February 29th total of 1,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 212,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Vanguard

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of American Vanguard by 477.2% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of American Vanguard by 85.0% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the period. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new stake in shares of American Vanguard in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of American Vanguard by 492.4% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,945 shares during the period. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Vanguard in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 79.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Vanguard Price Performance

Shares of AVD stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $12.95. 174,037 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 227,840. American Vanguard has a twelve month low of $8.41 and a twelve month high of $22.58. The firm has a market cap of $372.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.00 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.87.

American Vanguard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 27th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 26th. American Vanguard’s payout ratio is 44.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AVD. StockNews.com raised American Vanguard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of American Vanguard in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on American Vanguard from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th.

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, molluscicides, soil health, plant nutrition, growth regulators, and soil fumigants in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection.