Investors Buy High Volume of Aemetis Call Options (NASDAQ:AMTX)

Aemetis, Inc (NASDAQ:AMTX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 5,962 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 556% compared to the typical daily volume of 909 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aemetis by 15.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,479,163 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,578,000 after purchasing an additional 329,760 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in Aemetis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $634,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Aemetis during the 3rd quarter valued at $563,000. Hamilton Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Aemetis during the 4th quarter worth $279,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aemetis in the second quarter worth $246,000. 27.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aemetis Trading Up 10.3%

Shares of NASDAQ AMTX opened at $1.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $105.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.99 and a beta of 2.31. Aemetis has a 12-month low of $1.22 and a 12-month high of $3.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.18.

Aemetis (NASDAQ:AMTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $59.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.79 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aemetis will post -2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMTX shares. Ascendiant Capital Markets lowered their price target on Aemetis from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Aemetis in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Aemetis Company Profile

Aemetis, Inc, headquartered in Cupertino, California, is a renewable fuels and renewable natural gas producer dedicated to decarbonizing the transportation sector. The company operates two primary business segments: Aemetis Advanced Fuels, which manufactures ethanol, biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel using patented carbon capture and separation technology; and Aemetis RNG, which develops dairy-based renewable natural gas projects in California for pipeline injection and transportation use.

Since its incorporation in 2006, Aemetis has expanded its production footprint through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.