Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) Shares Climb 0.6% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Alto Ingredients shares rose 0.6% to $3.61, while trading volume fell 18% below its average. The stock remains below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts have a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $10.00, although ratings range from Hold to Strong Buy.
• The company beat quarterly expectations, reporting earnings of $0.15 per share versus the $0.08 estimate and revenue of $245.7 million versus the $231.24 million consensus.

Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 0.6% during trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $3.64 and last traded at $3.61. Approximately 801,824 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 18% from the average daily volume of 983,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ALTO shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Alto Ingredients in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Scotiabank set a $10.00 price target on Alto Ingredients in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research cut Alto Ingredients from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alto Ingredients in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Alto Ingredients to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.00.

Alto Ingredients Stock Up 0.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 2.17. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $3.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.66. The company has a market cap of $280.03 million, a PE ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.14.

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.07. Alto Ingredients had a net margin of 5.51% and a return on equity of 18.54%. The business had revenue of $245.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.24 million. On average, analysts predict that Alto Ingredients, Inc. will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Alto Ingredients

In other Alto Ingredients news, Director Gilbert Nathan acquired 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.15 per share, with a total value of $207,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 856,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,554,030.95. This trade represents a 6.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALTO. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Alto Ingredients in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Alto Ingredients during the first quarter worth $49,000. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in Alto Ingredients during the first quarter worth $58,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Alto Ingredients during the second quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Alto Ingredients during the second quarter valued at $108,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alto Ingredients

Alto Ingredients, Inc NASDAQ: ALTO is a renewable fuels and specialty ingredients company that produces low-carbon ethanol and other products derived primarily from corn. Its ethanol is used as a transportation fuel and as a blending component in gasoline, while the company's operations support markets focused on renewable energy and lower-carbon fuel alternatives.

In addition to ethanol, Alto Ingredients produces and markets co-products such as dried distillers grains, wet distillers grains and renewable corn oil.

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