Short Interest in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) Drops By 5.8%

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) saw a large decrease in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,440,000 shares, a decrease of 5.8% from the August 31st total of 2,590,000 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Price Performance

NASDAQ AY opened at $22.00 on Wednesday. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure has a fifty-two week low of $16.35 and a fifty-two week high of $23.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

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

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.09%. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure’s payout ratio is presently 386.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 17,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 4.3% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 12.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 9,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 4.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 28,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.53% of the company’s stock.

About Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure

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.