FutureFuel Corp. (NYSE:FF) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

FutureFuel Corp. (NYSE:FF) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 973,800 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the May 31st total of 891,300 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 576,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Insider Activity

In other FutureFuel news, Director Ronald J. Kruszewski purchased 8,544 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.50 per share, with a total value of $38,448.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 8,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,448. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Ronald J. Kruszewski acquired 8,544 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.50 per share, for a total transaction of $38,448.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,448. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ronald J. Kruszewski acquired 50,358 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.60 per share, for a total transaction of $231,646.80. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 95,302 shares of company stock valued at $429,149. Insiders own 40.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FutureFuel

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FF. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in FutureFuel by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 172,808 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 8,003 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of FutureFuel by 170.7% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 37,569 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 23,692 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FutureFuel during the first quarter worth approximately $83,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in FutureFuel by 76.5% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 176,038 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 76,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in FutureFuel by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,391,525 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $11,202,000 after buying an additional 45,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered FutureFuel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of FutureFuel from $0.70 to $0.80 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th.

FutureFuel Price Performance

Shares of FF traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $5.02. 129,768 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 535,123. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.79. The company has a market capitalization of $219.46 million, a PE ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.63. FutureFuel has a one year low of $4.15 and a one year high of $10.31.

FutureFuel (NYSE:FF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The energy company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $58.28 million during the quarter. FutureFuel had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.86%.

About FutureFuel

FutureFuel Corp., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells diversified chemical, bio-based fuel, and bio-based specialty chemical products in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Chemicals and Biofuels. The Chemicals segment provides various custom chemicals that are used in the coatings, chemical intermediates, industrial and consumer cleaning, oil and gas, and specialty polymers industries; and performance chemicals, such as polymer modifiers, glycerin products, and various specialty chemicals and solvents.