Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Intrepid Potash, Inc (NYSE:IPI) reached 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. The stock had previously closed at $44.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IPI. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Intrepid Potash in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Intrepid Potash from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Sell” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Intrepid Potash Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.82. The stock 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.23. Intrepid Potash had a net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 3.93%. The company had revenue of $75.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.25 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Intrepid Potash, Inc will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intrepid Potash

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gate City Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Intrepid Potash by 338.6% in the 4th quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 914,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,346,000 after buying an additional 705,638 shares during the period. Azarias Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Intrepid Potash by 64.9% during the third quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 259,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after acquiring an additional 102,266 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Intrepid Potash during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,441,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Intrepid Potash by 12.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 726,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,202,000 after acquiring an additional 81,121 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Intrepid Potash by 350.2% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 86,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,659,000 after acquiring an additional 67,631 shares during the period. 56.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.