Short Interest in Caesarstone Ltd. (NASDAQ:CSTE) Increases By 9.8%

Caesarstone Ltd. (NASDAQ:CSTE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 218,000 shares, a growth of 9.8% from the December 15th total of 198,600 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 45,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Caesarstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. raised its stake in Caesarstone by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 3,019,248 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,768,000 after purchasing an additional 48,200 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 43,129 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Caesarstone during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $164,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Caesarstone by 189.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 40,797 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 26,705 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 33.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised Caesarstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Caesarstone Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSTE traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $4.20. The company had a trading volume of 25,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,459. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.67. Caesarstone has a 12 month low of $3.76 and a 12 month high of $6.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.03 million, a P/E ratio of -2.09 and a beta of 0.18.

About Caesarstone

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.