Genie Energy Ltd. (NYSE:GNE) Short Interest Update

Genie Energy Ltd. (NYSE:GNE) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 679,063 shares, a growth of 43.4% from the November 30th total of 473,396 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 112,108 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 112,108 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Institutional Trading of Genie Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GNE. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Genie Energy by 71.6% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,171 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Genie Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Genie Energy by 168.2% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,406 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its stake in shares of Genie Energy by 29.1% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 4,691 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 1,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Genie Energy in the first quarter valued at $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GNE shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Genie Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Genie Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Genie Energy Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:GNE traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $13.84. 132,724 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 135,937. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.30. Genie Energy has a one year low of $13.05 and a one year high of $28.47. The company has a market cap of $366.77 million, a P/E ratio of 17.30 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Genie Energy (NYSE:GNE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $138.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.79 million. Genie Energy had a return on equity of 4.47% and a net margin of 1.00%.

Genie Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Genie Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.50%.

About Genie Energy

Genie Energy Ltd. (NYSE: GNE) is a diversified energy holding company that operates through two primary segments: upstream oil and natural gas exploration and retail energy supply. Its exploration arm, Genie Energy E&P, pursues development of oil shale resources and conventional hydrocarbon deposits, holding licenses for projects in regions such as Israel’s Shefela basin and Jordan’s oil shale formations. The division also explores select opportunities in North America, leveraging technical partnerships to advance resource evaluation and pilot production programs.

Genie Retail Energy provides electricity and natural gas to residential and small commercial customers under regulated and deregulated frameworks.