Phibro Animal Health (NASDAQ:PAHC) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Phibro Animal Health Co. (NASDAQ:PAHC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $22.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Phibro Animal Health traded as high as $26.42 and last traded at $26.22, with a volume of 874178 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.69.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PAHC. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Phibro Animal Health from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut Phibro Animal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Phibro Animal Health

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Phibro Animal Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,020,000. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC increased its stake in Phibro Animal Health by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC now owns 94,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,988,000 after acquiring an additional 9,056 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Phibro Animal Health by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 515,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,838,000 after acquiring an additional 8,510 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Phibro Animal Health by 357.1% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 130,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after buying an additional 101,560 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Phibro Animal Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,000. 99.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Phibro Animal Health Stock Down 5.8 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.80. The firm has a market cap of $996.30 million, a PE ratio of 51.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 3.20 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

Phibro Animal Health (NASDAQ:PAHC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.14. Phibro Animal Health had a return on equity of 25.35% and a net margin of 1.75%. Analysts expect that Phibro Animal Health Co. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Phibro Animal Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Phibro Animal Health’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

About Phibro Animal Health

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.