Vertex, Inc. $VERX Shares Bought by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 42.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,215,172 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 360,791 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex were worth $24,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Herald Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 81.8% during the 3rd quarter. Herald Investment Management Ltd now owns 200,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,958,000 after acquiring an additional 90,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,387,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,917,000 after acquiring an additional 689,143 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 892,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,136,000 after acquiring an additional 275,520 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 378,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,388,000 after acquiring an additional 108,839 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 991,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,807,000 after acquiring an additional 172,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Vertex from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $25.00 price target on Vertex in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $14.00 price target on Vertex in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.93.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of VERX opened at $13.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -268.80 and a beta of 0.81. Vertex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.59 and a 12-month high of $42.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $196.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.82 million. Vertex had a negative net margin of 0.84% and a positive return on equity of 26.04%. Vertex’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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.