Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Intrepid Potash, Inc (NYSE:IPI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $49.50 and last traded at $47.9020, with a volume of 258828 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $44.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Intrepid Potash from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Intrepid Potash in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intrepid Potash has an average rating of “Sell” and an average price target of $25.00.

Intrepid Potash Trading Up 10.4%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.82. The company has a market capitalization of $653.55 million, a PE ratio of 57.29 and a beta of 1.53.

Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.23. Intrepid Potash had a return on equity of 3.93% and a net margin of 3.75%.The company had revenue of $75.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.25 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Intrepid Potash, Inc will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IPI. Gate City Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Intrepid Potash by 338.6% in the fourth quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 914,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,346,000 after purchasing an additional 705,638 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Intrepid Potash by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 726,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,202,000 after acquiring an additional 81,121 shares during the period. Azarias Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Intrepid Potash by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 294,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,177,000 after acquiring an additional 35,082 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Intrepid Potash by 0.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 241,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,614,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Intrepid Potash by 24.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 230,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,222,000 after purchasing an additional 45,577 shares during the period. 56.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Intrepid Potash

Intrepid Potash, Inc is a leading U.S.-based producer and marketer of potash and related specialty fertilizer products. The company’s primary business centers on potassium chloride, a key nutrient used in agricultural applications to enhance crop yield and quality. In addition to potash, Intrepid Potash produces magnesium chloride and sodium chloride, which serve a variety of markets including de-icing, dust control and industrial chemical production.

Intrepid Potash operates through a combination of solution mining, solar evaporation and conventional underground mining techniques.