Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:ELPC) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:ELPC) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 679,608 shares, a decrease of 61.0% from the May 14th total of 1,744,070 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 438,085 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE:ELPC traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.60. The company had a trading volume of 344,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 330,653. The firm has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of -0.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.04. Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel has a twelve month low of $7.32 and a twelve month high of $13.70.

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel (NYSE:ELPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.1904 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel

In other news, Director Pedro Franco Sales sold 153,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total transaction of $490,303.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 74,844 shares in the company, valued at $238,752.36. This represents a 67.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel by 288.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 653,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,214,000 after purchasing an additional 485,063 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel in the 4th quarter valued at $921,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel in the 4th quarter valued at $848,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel by 2,635.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 48,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 46,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new position in Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel in the 4th quarter valued at $588,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ELPC. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel in a report on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.40.

About Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel is a Brazilian utility company primarily engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. Established in 1954, Copel operates a diversified portfolio of power plants, with a strong emphasis on hydroelectric facilities supplemented by thermal and renewable energy sources. The company’s integrated network spans the entirety of Paraná state, delivering electricity services to residential, commercial and industrial customers through a combination of high-voltage transmission lines and local distribution networks.

In addition to its core power business, Copel has expanded into telecommunications through its Copel Telecom subsidiary.