Wall Street Zen Upgrades Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) to “Buy”

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on VERX. Citigroup upped their target price on Vertex from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vertex from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. DA Davidson set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.47.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX opened at $12.85 on Friday. Vertex has a 1 year low of $10.21 and a 1 year high of $36.75. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of -257.00 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.62 and its 200 day moving average is $14.59.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. Vertex had a positive return on equity of 26.04% and a negative net margin of 0.84%.The business had revenue of $196.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. Vertex’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter valued at $37,796,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,728,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,640,000 after acquiring an additional 229,774 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 76.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,161,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,584,000 after acquiring an additional 937,905 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Vertex by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,849,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,928,000 after acquiring an additional 136,656 shares during the period. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Vertex by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC now owns 1,833,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,614,000 after acquiring an additional 583,428 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Company Profile

Vertex Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: VERX) is a specialty refiner and marketer of transportation fuels and petrochemical feedstocks in the United States. The company collects and processes a variety of waste petroleum products, including used motor oil and industrial lubricants, which it converts into ultra-low-sulfur diesel, asphalt, and other refined products. By leveraging proprietary re-refining technologies and strategic feedstock sourcing, Vertex Energy aims to deliver cost-effective, lower-carbon fuel solutions to wholesale and retail customers across the country.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Vertex operates a network of refining and blending facilities in key regions, including the Central, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets.