Investors Buy High Volume of Cadiz Call Options (NASDAQ:CDZI)

Cadiz, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDZI) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 14,229 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 519% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,297 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cadiz

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cadiz in the second quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Cadiz during the third quarter valued at $2,344,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Cadiz during the first quarter worth about $8,016,000. GAM Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Cadiz in the 2nd quarter worth $1,196,000. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its stake in Cadiz by 5.7% during the second quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 3,242,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,695,000 after purchasing an additional 176,142 shares during the last quarter. 79.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cadiz Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of Cadiz stock traded up $0.18 on Tuesday, reaching $5.66. 959,244 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 677,951. Cadiz has a 52 week low of $2.13 and a 52 week high of $6.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $469.99 million, a P/E ratio of -11.54 and a beta of 2.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.29.

Cadiz (NASDAQ:CDZI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.01). Cadiz had a negative net margin of 206.65% and a negative return on equity of 93.48%. The firm had revenue of $4.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Cadiz will post -0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CDZI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cadiz in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cadiz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cadiz presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.00.

Cadiz Company Profile

Cadiz, Inc (NASDAQ: CDZI) is a Southern California–based water resource management company focused on developing and operating groundwater storage, recovery and conveyance projects. The company holds water rights and mineral rights on approximately 34,000 acres in the Mojave Desert and is chiefly known for advancing the Cadiz Water Project, a planned system to capture, store and distribute groundwater to urban and agricultural users in the region.

The company’s primary business activity centers on the development of infrastructure that enables sustainable groundwater banking.