Short Interest in Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNSL) Drops By 8.5%

Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNSL) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,290,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the August 31st total of 4,690,000 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 485,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Consolidated Communications in a report on Saturday, July 27th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

Consolidated Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ:CNSL remained flat at $4.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday. 271,278 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 583,617. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.51, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.43. Consolidated Communications has a 1-year low of $3.28 and a 1-year high of $4.65. The stock has a market cap of $549.52 million, a P/E ratio of -1.79 and a beta of 0.98.

Consolidated Communications (NASDAQ:CNSL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter. Consolidated Communications had a negative return on equity of 25.00% and a negative net margin of 17.74%. The company had revenue of $268.71 million during the quarter.

Institutional Trading of Consolidated Communications

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNSL. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Consolidated Communications by 54.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 596,244 shares in the last quarter. Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P purchased a new stake in shares of Consolidated Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,247,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Consolidated Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,103,000. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Consolidated Communications by 2,427.1% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 379,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 364,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. bought a new position in Consolidated Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,488,000. 79.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.