Alto Ingredients Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:ALTO)

Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 2,718 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 224% compared to the typical daily volume of 838 call options.

Institutional Trading of Alto Ingredients

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alto Ingredients during the first quarter valued at about $62,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Alto Ingredients by 53.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,677,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,423,000 after acquiring an additional 583,967 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Alto Ingredients by 8.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 585,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 46,454 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Alto Ingredients in the first quarter worth about $286,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Alto Ingredients in the first quarter worth about $131,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Alto Ingredients Stock Up 7.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALTO opened at $1.30 on Friday. Alto Ingredients has a 12-month low of $1.18 and a 12-month high of $3.00. The company has a market cap of $99.43 million, a P/E ratio of -2.45 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a current ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.57.

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.06). Alto Ingredients had a negative net margin of 3.49% and a negative return on equity of 11.26%. The company had revenue of $251.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.05) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alto Ingredients will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal 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.