Short Interest in Intrepid Potash, Inc. (NYSE:IPI) Increases By 7.4%

Intrepid Potash, Inc. (NYSE:IPI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 241,100 shares, an increase of 7.4% from the December 31st total of 224,400 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 95,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Intrepid Potash Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:IPI traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 50,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 123,843. Intrepid Potash has a fifty-two week low of $17.52 and a fifty-two week high of $29.75. The company has a market capitalization of $351.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.93 and a beta of 2.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.98 and a 200-day moving average of $24.70.

Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.25). Intrepid Potash had a negative return on equity of 1.32% and a negative net margin of 16.86%. The business had revenue of $57.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.57 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.53) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Intrepid Potash will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intrepid Potash news, major shareholder Robert P. Jornayvaz III sold 5,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.35, for a total transaction of $153,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,709,373.05. The trade was a 5.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 428,748 shares of company stock valued at $10,870,406 in the last quarter. Insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IPI. Azarias Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Intrepid Potash by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 657,464 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,412,000 after buying an additional 45,446 shares during the last quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC bought a new stake in Intrepid Potash during the fourth quarter worth about $1,269,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Intrepid Potash by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,486 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,238,000 after buying an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC grew its stake in Intrepid Potash by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC now owns 209,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,803,000 after buying an additional 1,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Intrepid Potash during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IPI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Intrepid Potash from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Intrepid Potash from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

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.