Vertex Energy (NASDAQ:VTNR) Rating Lowered to Hold at Craig Hallum

Vertex Energy (NASDAQ:VTNR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Craig Hallum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $1.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock. Craig Hallum’s target price suggests a potential upside of 138.10% from the company’s current price.

VTNR has been the subject of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of Vertex Energy in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Energy to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.63.

Vertex Energy Stock Down 12.7 %

NASDAQ VTNR traded down $0.06 on Friday, hitting $0.42. 5,394,542 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,629,165. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Vertex Energy has a fifty-two week low of $0.40 and a fifty-two week high of $5.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $0.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.18.

Vertex Energy (NASDAQ:VTNR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The industrial products company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.06. Vertex Energy had a negative net margin of 4.50% and a negative return on equity of 45.99%. The business had revenue of $695.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $672.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.58) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vertex Energy will post -0.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VTNR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vertex Energy by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,094,415 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,670,000 after buying an additional 1,191,692 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in Vertex Energy during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Vertex Energy by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 430,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 107,400 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Energy during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Vertex Energy during the 4th quarter worth $161,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.99% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Energy Company Profile

Vertex Energy, Inc, an energy transition company, that focuses on the production and distribution of conventional and alternative fuels. The company engages in refining and distributing petroleum products comprising the mobile refinery and related operations. It sells ferrous and non-ferrous recyclable metal products, and markets Group III base oils and other petroleum-based products, as well as provides transportation and marine salvage services.