HighTower Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alto Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTO – Get Rating) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,287,525 shares of the company’s stock after selling 210,202 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 1.74% of Alto Ingredients worth $3,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Alto Ingredients by 84.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,862,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,059,483 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alto Ingredients by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,984,000 after acquiring an additional 208,959 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Alto Ingredients by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,046,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,957,000 after acquiring an additional 623,433 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alto Ingredients by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,063,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,254,000 after acquiring an additional 127,437 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alto Ingredients by 334.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 928,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,331,000 after acquiring an additional 714,441 shares during the period. 52.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alto Ingredients news, Director Gilbert E. Nathan purchased 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1.86 per share, with a total value of $27,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 553,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,030,270.74. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders purchased a total of 30,226 shares of company stock worth $54,996 in the last quarter. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALTO has been the subject of several research reports. HC Wainwright cut their price target on Alto Ingredients from $10.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Monday, March 13th. TheStreet downgraded Alto Ingredients from a “c” rating to a “d” rating in a research note on Friday, March 10th.

Alto Ingredients Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALTO opened at $2.20 on Friday. Alto Ingredients, Inc. has a 52 week low of $1.20 and a 52 week high of $5.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $165.31 million, a P/E ratio of -2.97 and a beta of 2.38.

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 9th. The company reported ($0.46) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.38). Alto Ingredients had a negative return on equity of 20.64% and a negative net margin of 3.89%. The company had revenue of $328.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $322.33 million. Research analysts anticipate that Alto Ingredients, Inc. will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alto Ingredients Profile

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Alto Ingredients, Inc engages in the production and marketing of specialty alcohols and essential ingredients. It operates through the following segments: Marketing and Distribution, Pekin Production, and Other Production. The Marketing and Distribution segment includes marketing and merchant trading for company-produced alcohols and essential ingredients, on an aggregated basis, and third-party fuel-grade ethanol.