Vertex Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VTNR – Get Rating)'s stock price traded up 2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $8.00 and last traded at $7.99. 21,064 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 99% from the average session volume of 3,298,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lowered Vertex Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 10th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on Vertex Energy to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, June 9th. HC Wainwright lowered their price target on Vertex Energy from $25.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Vertex Energy from $14.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.50.

Vertex Energy Trading Down 1.0 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VTNR. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Energy by 4,698.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,198,196 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $75,725,000 after buying an additional 7,048,174 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $13,872,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,262,000. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $6,655,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Energy by 296.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 854,606 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,990,000 after buying an additional 639,245 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.15% of the company's stock.

Vertex Energy Company Profile

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Vertex Energy, Inc, an environmental services company, provides a range of services designed to aggregate, process, and recycle industrial and commercial waste systems in the Gulf Coast and Central Midwest regions of the United States. The company operates through Black Oil, Refining and Marketing, and Recovery segments.

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