Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO) Short Interest Up 17.1% in April

Key Points

• Short interest rose 17.1% in April, reaching 1,820,337 shares as of April 15 (about 2.5% of the stock) with a days-to-cover ratio of 1.3.
• Alto beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.19 vs. $0.02) and has received recent analyst upgrades (Zacks and Wall Street Zen to Strong Buy; Weiss to Hold), giving it an average MarketBeat rating of "Buy".

Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,820,337 shares, a growth of 17.1% from the March 31st total of 1,554,891 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,447,104 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ALTO. Weiss Ratings raised Alto Ingredients from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Alto Ingredients from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Alto Ingredients from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy".

Alto Ingredients Stock Up 0.6%

Alto Ingredients stock opened at $5.31 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.96. Alto Ingredients has a 1-year low of $0.80 and a 1-year high of $5.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.64 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $410.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.19 and a beta of 0.05.

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.17. Alto Ingredients had a return on equity of 2.99% and a net margin of 1.45%.The company had revenue of $231.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $234.83 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Alto Ingredients will post 0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alto Ingredients

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALTO. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in Alto Ingredients during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Alto Ingredients during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Alto Ingredients during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Alto Ingredients during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Alto Ingredients by 2,539,250.0% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,787 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 50,785 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

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.

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