Short Interest in Newpark Resources, Inc. (NYSE:NR) Drops By 13.7%

Newpark Resources, Inc. (NYSE:NR - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,260,000 shares, a drop of 13.7% from the August 31st total of 1,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 662,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company's shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Newpark Resources by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,153,464 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $40,859,000 after acquiring an additional 303,236 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in Newpark Resources by 983.6% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 136,452 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $906,000 after buying an additional 123,860 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Newpark Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $2,567,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Newpark Resources by 495.4% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,537 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 3,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Newpark Resources by 179.1% during the first quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 7,404 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 4,751 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NR has been the subject of several research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of Newpark Resources in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Newpark Resources from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $11.00.

Newpark Resources Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Newpark Resources stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $6.92. 1,130,727 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 677,303. The stock has a market cap of $589.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.44 and a beta of 2.87. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $7.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.67. Newpark Resources has a 12-month low of $5.61 and a 12-month high of $8.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Newpark Resources (NYSE:NR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.04. Newpark Resources had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 7.49%. The firm had revenue of $179.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.04 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Newpark Resources will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.