Phibro Animal Health (NASDAQ:PAHC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Shares of Phibro Animal Health Co. (NASDAQ:PAHC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 326,135 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 112% from the previous session’s volume of 153,695 shares.The stock last traded at $21.66 and had previously closed at $20.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PAHC. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Phibro Animal Health from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Phibro Animal Health from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Phibro Animal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.50.

Phibro Animal Health Stock Down 6.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $812.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

Phibro Animal Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Phibro Animal Health’s payout ratio is presently 111.63%.

Institutional Trading of Phibro Animal Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAHC. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Phibro Animal Health in the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Phibro Animal Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Phibro Animal Health by 63.7% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Phibro Animal Health by 190.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,175 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Phibro Animal Health during the second quarter worth $193,000. 99.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Phibro Animal Health Company Profile

Phibro Animal Health Corporation operates as an animal health and mineral nutrition company in the United States, Israel, Brazil, Ireland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Animal Health, Mineral Nutrition, and Performance Products. The company develops, manufactures, and markets various products for food and companion animals including poultry, swine, beef and dairy cattle, aquaculture, and dogs.