Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO) Short Interest Up 80.8% in June

Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 4,118,629 shares, an increase of 80.8% from the June 15th total of 2,277,827 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,185,952 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Alto Ingredients Price Performance

NASDAQ:ALTO opened at $5.16 on Friday. Alto Ingredients has a 12 month low of $0.92 and a 12 month high of $6.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.21. The company has a current ratio of 3.81, a quick ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $399.85 million, a P/E ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 0.13.

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $224.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $215.65 million. Alto Ingredients had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 3.20%. On average, analysts expect that Alto Ingredients will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alto Ingredients news, Director Gilbert E. Nathan acquired 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.61 per share, for a total transaction of $92,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 769,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,548,506.01. This represents a 2.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peapod Lane Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Alto Ingredients by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 1,244,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,583,000 after purchasing an additional 9,074 shares in the last quarter. Corsair Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Alto Ingredients by 4.0% during the first quarter. Corsair Capital Management L.P. now owns 260,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Alto Ingredients by 36.8% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 37,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 10,070 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Alto Ingredients in the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Alto Ingredients in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALTO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Alto Ingredients from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Alto Ingredients from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Alto Ingredients from $5.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alto Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.00.

Alto Ingredients Company Profile

Alto Ingredients, Inc (NASDAQ: ALTO) is a diversified producer of alcohol-based products and specialty ingredients for industrial, food, beverage and personal care applications. The company’s core offering centers on ethanol produced for fuel markets, as well as an expanding portfolio of natural and organic alcohols, glycerin and other ingredient solutions. Alto’s product lines serve a range of end markets, including renewable fuels, confectionery, flavorings, cosmetics and sanitizers.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Alto Ingredients operates a network of production facilities across the United States.