StockNews.com Upgrades Caesarstone (NASDAQ:CSTE) to Buy

Caesarstone (NASDAQ:CSTE) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Caesarstone Price Performance

CSTE traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $5.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 118,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 78,303. The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Caesarstone has a twelve month low of $3.50 and a twelve month high of $6.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.90 and a beta of 0.23.

Caesarstone (NASDAQ:CSTE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The construction company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by ($0.02). Caesarstone had a negative net margin of 19.05% and a negative return on equity of 12.71%. The business had revenue of $128.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.03) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Caesarstone will post -0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caesarstone

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Caesarstone by 19.8% during the first quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 36,291 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 6,006 shares in the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Caesarstone by 89.7% during the first quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 329,827 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,349,000 after buying an additional 155,956 shares in the last quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC purchased a new position in Caesarstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $608,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 53,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted 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 buying an additional 6,660 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.70% of the company’s stock.

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.