Robert W. Baird Cuts Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Price Target to $17.00

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) had its price target trimmed by Robert W. Baird from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on VERX. DA Davidson set a $15.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Vertex from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vertex from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.53.

Vertex Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of VERX opened at $11.57 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of 578.79 and a beta of 0.83. Vertex has a 1 year low of $10.21 and a 1 year high of $28.86. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.31.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.01. Vertex had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%.The business had revenue of $203.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. Vertex’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VERX. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex in the second quarter valued at $245,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Vertex by 74.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 8,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 3,683 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Vertex by 275.2% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 141,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,686,000 after buying an additional 104,006 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Vertex during the 1st quarter worth about $37,796,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Vertex by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 290,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,454,000 after acquiring an additional 21,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

About Vertex

Vertex Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: VERX) is a specialty refiner and marketer of transportation fuels and petrochemical feedstocks in the United States. The company collects and processes a variety of waste petroleum products, including used motor oil and industrial lubricants, which it converts into ultra-low-sulfur diesel, asphalt, and other refined products. By leveraging proprietary re-refining technologies and strategic feedstock sourcing, Vertex Energy aims to deliver cost-effective, lower-carbon fuel solutions to wholesale and retail customers across the country.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Vertex operates a network of refining and blending facilities in key regions, including the Central, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets.