Newpark Resources, Inc. (NYSE:NR) Short Interest Update

Newpark Resources, Inc. (NYSE:NR) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 656,900 shares, a decrease of 45.3% from the March 15th total of 1,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 691,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Newpark Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Newpark Resources by 229.3% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 593,407 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 413,182 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Newpark Resources by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 228,541 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 45,560 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Newpark Resources by 53.1% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 49,550 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 17,192 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Newpark Resources by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,293,382 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $15,714,000 after acquiring an additional 106,348 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Newpark Resources by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 706,819 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after acquiring an additional 3,675 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on NR shares. Roth Mkm started coverage on Newpark Resources in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Newpark Resources in a research note on Friday, March 8th. StockNews.com cut Newpark Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. TheStreet lowered Newpark Resources from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, B. Riley assumed coverage on Newpark Resources in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Newpark Resources currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.75.

Newpark Resources Stock Up 1.3 %

NR opened at $7.62 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.62. Newpark Resources has a one year low of $3.40 and a one year high of $7.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $649.22 million, a P/E ratio of 47.63 and a beta of 2.75.

Newpark Resources (NYSE:NR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and gas company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.03). Newpark Resources had a return on equity of 6.53% and a net margin of 1.94%. The firm had revenue of $167.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.87 million. Analysts anticipate that Newpark Resources will post 0.29 EPS for the current year.

Newpark Resources Company Profile

Newpark Resources, Inc provides products, rentals, and services primarily to the oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) industry. It operates through two segments, Fluids Systems and Industrial Solutions. The Fluids Systems segment provides drilling, completion, and stimulation fluids products and related technical services to customers primarily in the North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as other countries in the Asia Pacific and Latin America.