Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 886,700 shares, a growth of 76.2% from the September 30th total of 503,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 475,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alto Ingredients

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Alto Ingredients by 48.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 351,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 114,571 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Alto Ingredients during the second quarter worth about $202,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Alto Ingredients by 53.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,677,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,423,000 after acquiring an additional 583,967 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alto Ingredients during the second quarter worth about $400,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Alto Ingredients during the first quarter worth about $68,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Alto Ingredients in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Alto Ingredients Trading Down 0.6 %

Alto Ingredients stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 330,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 383,816. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1.57 and a 200-day moving average of $1.59. The stock has a market cap of $130.80 million, a PE ratio of -3.23 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 3.09. Alto Ingredients has a one year low of $1.28 and a one year high of $4.98.

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.06. Alto Ingredients had a negative return on equity of 11.26% and a negative net margin of 3.49%. The business had revenue of $236.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $236.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alto Ingredients will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

About Alto Ingredients

Alto Ingredients, Inc produces, distributes, and markets specialty alcohols, renewable fuel, and essential ingredients in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Marketing and Distribution, Pekin Campus Production, and Western Production. It offers specialty alcohols used in mouthwash, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hand sanitizers, disinfectants, and cleaners for health, home, and beauty markets; grain neutral spirits used in alcoholic beverages and vinegar, as well as corn germ used in corn oils in the food and beverage markets; alcohols and other products for paint applications and fertilizers in the industrial and agriculture markets; and essential ingredients include dried yeast, corn protein meal, corn protein feed, distiller's grains, and liquid feed for commercial animal feed and pet food applications, as well as yeast for human consumption.