Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) Shares Break Above 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO) passed 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 trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank set a $10.00 target price on Alto Ingredients in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Alto Ingredients in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Benchmark raised Alto Ingredients to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alto Ingredients in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.00.

Alto Ingredients Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.32 million, a PE ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.07. Alto Ingredients had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 5.29%. The company had revenue of $257.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.97 million. Research analysts expect that Alto Ingredients, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alto Ingredients

In other Alto Ingredients news, Director Gilbert Nathan acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.93 per share, for a total transaction of $39,300.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 866,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,404,924.49. This trade represents a 1.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 4.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alto Ingredients

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Alto Ingredients in the second quarter worth approximately $31,322,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alto Ingredients by 590.1% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,000,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,843,000 after acquiring an additional 855,703 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Alto Ingredients by 1,441.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 550,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after acquiring an additional 514,600 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Alto Ingredients by 74.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 659,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,190,000 after purchasing an additional 281,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Alto Ingredients in the 2nd quarter worth $4,878,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alto Ingredients Company Profile

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.