Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Hits New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $12.52 and last traded at $12.9550, with a volume of 1579759 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $14.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VERX. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler cut shares of Vertex from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, February 2nd. JMP Securities set a $37.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Vertex from a “market outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.60.

Vertex Stock Down 14.0%

The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.58. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.59.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17. The company had revenue of $194.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.33 million. Vertex had a positive return on equity of 26.84% and a negative net margin of 7.32%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Vertex declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, November 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VERX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 25.7% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 137,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,456,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 10,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.