Intrepid Potash, Inc. (NYSE:IPI) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Intrepid Potash, Inc. (NYSE:IPI) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 415,300 shares, a decrease of 7.8% from the May 31st total of 450,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 101,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on IPI shares. StockNews.com raised Intrepid Potash to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Intrepid Potash from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th.

Institutional Trading of Intrepid Potash

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Intrepid Potash by 517.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 58,126 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,211,000 after buying an additional 48,715 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Intrepid Potash by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 553,185 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,539,000 after purchasing an additional 14,133 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Intrepid Potash by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 481,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,048,000 after purchasing an additional 78,200 shares during the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intrepid Potash in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $144,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Intrepid Potash by 7.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 31,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. 56.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intrepid Potash Stock Performance

Shares of Intrepid Potash stock traded up $0.58 on Wednesday, hitting $23.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 34,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,143. The company has a market capitalization of $309.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.90 and a beta of 2.23. Intrepid Potash has a 1 year low of $17.52 and a 1 year high of $28.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.80.

Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $66.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.87 million. Intrepid Potash had a negative return on equity of 1.37% and a negative net margin of 15.95%. As a group, analysts forecast that Intrepid Potash will post 0.15 EPS for the current year.

About Intrepid Potash

Intrepid Potash, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the extraction and production of the potash in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Potash, Trio, and Oilfield Solutions. The company offers muriate of potash for various markets, such as agricultural market as a fertilizer input; the industrial market as a component in drilling and fracturing fluids for oil and gas wells, as well as an input to other industrial processes; and the animal feed market as a nutrient supplement.