Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) Shares Break Above 50 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO)’s share price crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3.77 and traded as high as $3.95. Alto Ingredients shares last traded at $3.82, with a volume of 1,157,005 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ALTO shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alto Ingredients in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Scotiabank set a $10.00 price target on shares of Alto Ingredients in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Alto Ingredients to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Alto Ingredients in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.00.

Alto Ingredients Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.29. The stock has a market cap of $297.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $257.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.97 million. Alto Ingredients had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 5.29%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alto Ingredients, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gilbert Nathan purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $3.93 per share, with a total value of $39,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 866,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,924.49. The trade was a 1.17% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alto Ingredients

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alto Ingredients in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,322,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Alto Ingredients by 67.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,790,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,665,000 after buying an additional 723,996 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Alto Ingredients by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,673,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,100,000 after buying an additional 149,657 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Alto Ingredients during the second quarter worth about $4,878,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Alto Ingredients by 590.1% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,000,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,843,000 after acquiring an additional 855,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.