Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNSL) Short Interest Up 6.7% in July

Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNSL) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,490,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the June 30th total of 4,210,000 shares. Approximately 5.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 519,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.6 days.

Consolidated Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ:CNSL remained flat at $4.60 during trading hours on Thursday. 425,915 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 641,565. The company’s 50-day moving average is $4.41 and its 200 day moving average is $4.36. The stock has a market cap of $544.78 million, a PE ratio of -1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Consolidated Communications has a 12 month low of $3.28 and a 12 month high of $4.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.09, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Consolidated Communications (NASDAQ:CNSL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $274.68 million during the quarter. Consolidated Communications had a negative return on equity of 19.47% and a negative net margin of 22.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Consolidated Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Consolidated Communications by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,269,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,442,000 after purchasing an additional 128,005 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Consolidated Communications by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,374,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,329,000 after acquiring an additional 73,582 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Consolidated Communications by 54.5% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,689,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,299,000 after acquiring an additional 596,244 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Consolidated Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,871,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Consolidated Communications by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 604,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,658,000 after purchasing an additional 16,217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Consolidated Communications in a research note on Saturday, July 27th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company.

About Consolidated Communications

Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband and business communication solutions for consumer, commercial, and carrier channels in the United States. It offers high-speed broadband Internet access, SIP trunking, and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone services; commercial data connectivity services in various markets, including Ethernet services, private line data services, software defined wide area network, and multi-protocol label switching services; networking services; cloud-based services; and data center and disaster recovery solutions.