Short Interest in Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX) Increases By 57.3%

Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX) saw a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,835,198 shares, a growth of 57.3% from the June 15th total of 1,166,752 shares. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 686,495 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

PEIX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright set a $14.00 price target on shares of Pacific Ethanol and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Cowen and Company set a $13.00 price objective on Pacific Ethanol and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 29th. ValuEngine upgraded Pacific Ethanol from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded Pacific Ethanol from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Pacific Ethanol has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Shares of Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) opened at 5.60 on Tuesday. Pacific Ethanol has a one year low of $5.55 and a one year high of $10.95. The firm’s market capitalization is $236.85 million. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $6.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.79.

Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ:PEIX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.18. Pacific Ethanol had a negative net margin of 0.72% and a negative return on equity of 3.02%. The firm had revenue of $405.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. Pacific Ethanol’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pacific Ethanol will post ($0.05) earnings per share for the current year.

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEIX. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in Pacific Ethanol by 98.8% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 675,471 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,221,000 after buying an additional 335,748 shares during the last quarter. Candlewood Investment Group LP boosted its position in Pacific Ethanol by 19.3% in the second quarter. Candlewood Investment Group LP now owns 3,254,318 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $20,339,000 after buying an additional 526,901 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Pacific Ethanol by 30.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 232,445 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 54,866 shares during the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Ethanol by 24.3% in the second quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 400,409 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,503,000 after buying an additional 78,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Pacific Ethanol by 35.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 47,184 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 12,345 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Pacific Ethanol

Pacific Ethanol, Inc (Pacific Ethanol) is a marketer and producer of low-carbon renewable fuels in the Western United States. Pacific Ethanol markets all the ethanol produced by four ethanol production facilities located in California, Idaho and Oregon, or the Pacific Ethanol Plants, all the ethanol produced by three other ethanol producers in the Western United States and ethanol purchased from other third-party suppliers throughout the United States.