Caesarstone Ltd. (NASDAQ:CSTE) Short Interest Down 44.6% in April

Caesarstone Ltd. (NASDAQ:CSTE) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 34,700 shares, a drop of 44.6% from the March 31st total of 62,600 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 80,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Caesarstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Caesarstone

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in Caesarstone by 41.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,591 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 6,660 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Caesarstone by 21,632.8% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 53,680 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 53,433 shares during the period. Acuitas Investments LLC bought a new position in Caesarstone during the fourth quarter worth about $608,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in Caesarstone during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. bought a new position in Caesarstone during the third quarter worth about $2,711,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.70% of the company’s stock.

Caesarstone Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSTE traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $6.19. 99,990 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 73,434. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.74 million, a P/E ratio of -1.98 and a beta of 0.40. Caesarstone has a twelve month low of $3.50 and a twelve month high of $6.81.

Caesarstone (NASDAQ:CSTE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The construction company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $128.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.94 million. Caesarstone had a negative return on equity of 12.71% and a negative net margin of 19.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.03) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Caesarstone will post -0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

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.