Caesarstone Ltd. (NASDAQ:CSTE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Caesarstone Ltd. (NASDAQ:CSTE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 247,500 shares, an increase of 22.5% from the February 28th total of 202,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 48,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caesarstone

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CSTE. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Caesarstone by 1,206.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,704 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 43,129 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Caesarstone by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 163,335 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $745,000 after buying an additional 2,640 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caesarstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Caesarstone by 87.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,445 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 20,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Caesarstone by 189.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 40,797 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 26,705 shares during the period. 33.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Caesarstone in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

Caesarstone Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ CSTE traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.50. 40,323 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 49,869. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.12. Caesarstone has a 1-year low of $2.35 and a 1-year high of $6.81. The company has a market cap of $86.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.24 and a beta of 0.10.

Caesarstone (NASDAQ:CSTE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The construction company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.12). Caesarstone had a negative return on equity of 9.61% and a negative net margin of 14.56%. The company had revenue of $97.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.28) EPS.

Caesarstone Company Profile

Caesarstone Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets engineered stone and other materials under the Caesarstone brand in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Israel. The company’s engineered stone slabs are primarily used as indoor and outdoor kitchen countertops in the renovation and remodeling, and residential construction sectors.