Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) Short Interest Up 11.8% in May

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,660,000 shares, a growth of 11.8% from the May 15th total of 2,380,000 shares. Approximately 4.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,880,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AY traded down $0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $21.92. 655,549 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,390,007. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.25, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.02. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure has a 1-year low of $16.35 and a 1-year high of $25.22.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (NASDAQ:AY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The utilities provider reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $242.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $240.87 million. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 3.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.09) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.12%. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure’s dividend payout ratio is 386.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AY shares. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group cut shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. National Bankshares increased their target price on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, National Bank Financial cut Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 36.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,904 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 14.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 360,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,877,000 after acquiring an additional 46,607 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 112.3% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 23,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 12,602 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 3.2% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 714,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,642,000 after acquiring an additional 22,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure in the third quarter worth about $191,000. 40.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.