Newpark Resources, Inc. (NYSE:NR) Short Interest Update

Newpark Resources, Inc. (NYSE:NR) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 880,600 shares, an increase of 34.1% from the March 31st total of 656,900 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 621,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Newpark Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Newpark Resources by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,153,464 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $40,859,000 after purchasing an additional 303,236 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Newpark Resources by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,187,037 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,932,000 after purchasing an additional 162,941 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Newpark Resources by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 875,200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,048,000 after purchasing an additional 148,700 shares during the last quarter. Yarra Square Partners LP raised its position in shares of Newpark Resources by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Yarra Square Partners LP now owns 814,100 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,406,000 after purchasing an additional 266,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Newpark Resources by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 608,342 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,039,000 after purchasing an additional 212,872 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Newpark Resources Stock Performance

NR stock opened at $7.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $619.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.44 and a beta of 2.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.86. Newpark Resources has a one year low of $3.40 and a one year high of $7.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Newpark Resources (NYSE:NR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and gas company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $167.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.87 million. Newpark Resources had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 6.53%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Newpark Resources will post 0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NR has been the topic of several recent research reports. TheStreet cut shares of Newpark Resources from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of Newpark Resources in a report on Friday, March 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Newpark Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Newpark Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.00 price target for the company. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Newpark Resources in a research report on Friday, March 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.75.

About Newpark Resources

Newpark Resources, Inc provides products, rentals, and services primarily to the oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) industry. It operates through two segments, Fluids Systems and Industrial Solutions. The Fluids Systems segment provides drilling, completion, and stimulation fluids products and related technical services to customers primarily in the North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as other countries in the Asia Pacific and Latin America.