Short Interest in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) Declines By 15.5%

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 988,200 shares, a decline of 15.5% from the September 30th total of 1,170,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 996,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Insight Folios Inc increased its holdings in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 24,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT acquired a new stake in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,385,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. Syquant Capital Sas acquired a new stake in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,826,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. 40.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Price Performance

Shares of AY stock remained flat at $21.96 during trading on Monday. The company had a trading volume of 360,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,220,545. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.76. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure has a 1-year low of $16.82 and a 1-year high of $23.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.74, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.03.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (NASDAQ:AY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.06). Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure had a return on equity of 2.54% and a net margin of 3.59%. The company had revenue of $328.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.07 million. Analysts forecast that Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.11%. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure’s payout ratio is presently 386.96%.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Company Profile

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc owns, manages, and invests in renewable energy, storage, natural gas and heat, electric transmission lines, and water assets in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company was formerly known as Atlantica Yield plc and changed its name to Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc in May 2020.