Energy Recovery (NASDAQ:ERII) Shares Break Above 50-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERII) crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $7.02 and traded as high as $7.20. Energy Recovery shares last traded at $7.15, with a volume of 1,255,291 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ERII shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Energy Recovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings lowered Energy Recovery from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Energy Recovery from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Energy Recovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Energy Recovery from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $11.67.

Energy Recovery Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $368.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.44 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.45.

Energy Recovery (NASDAQ:ERII) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.04). Energy Recovery had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 12.72%. The firm had revenue of $11.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.16 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Energy Recovery, Inc. will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Energy Recovery

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kopion Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Energy Recovery by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Kopion Asset Management LLC now owns 1,018,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,791,000 after purchasing an additional 378,588 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Energy Recovery in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,399,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Energy Recovery by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 4,003,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,094,000 after purchasing an additional 263,226 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Energy Recovery during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $18,579,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Energy Recovery during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,049,000. 83.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Energy Recovery

Energy Recovery, Inc develops and manufactures energy-efficiency technologies for industrial fluid-flow applications. The company is best known for its pressure exchanger systems, which capture hydraulic energy from high-pressure fluid streams and transfer it to lower-pressure incoming fluids. This process can reduce energy consumption and operating costs in demanding industrial environments.

Energy Recovery’s products are used extensively in seawater and brackish-water reverse-osmosis desalination, where its PX Pressure Exchanger technology helps recover energy from the high-pressure reject stream.