StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Vertex Energy (NASDAQ:VTNR)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Energy (NASDAQ:VTNR) in a research note published on Saturday. The firm issued a sell rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

VTNR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Craig Hallum lowered shares of Vertex Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $1.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a hold rating and set a $4.00 price target on shares of Vertex Energy in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $2.63.

Vertex Energy Stock Up 11.4 %

Vertex Energy stock opened at $0.49 on Friday. Vertex Energy has a 1-year low of $0.39 and a 1-year high of $5.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $0.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.14.

Vertex Energy (NASDAQ:VTNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The industrial products company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.48). Vertex Energy had a negative net margin of 3.61% and a negative return on equity of 58.04%. The business had revenue of $750.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $729.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.55) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Energy will post -0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Vertex Energy by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 867,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after acquiring an additional 188,811 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC grew its position in Vertex Energy by 15.7% in the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 649,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 88,000 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in Vertex Energy by 44.0% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 463,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 141,700 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Vertex Energy by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 430,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 107,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceeto Capital Group LLC grew its position in Vertex Energy by 74.3% in the first quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC now owns 237,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 101,000 shares in the last quarter. 42.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.