SurgePays, Inc. (NASDAQ:SURG) Short Interest Up 382.2% in July

SurgePays, Inc. (NASDAQ:SURG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,350,377 shares, an increase of 382.2% from the June 30th total of 487,452 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 26,807,435 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days. Currently, 13.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of SurgePays

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SURG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of SurgePays by 5.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 656,900 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 35,286 shares during the period. Gaddis Premier Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in SurgePays by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Gaddis Premier Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 438,287 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 60,363 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in SurgePays in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in SurgePays during the 4th quarter valued at $142,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in SurgePays during the 3rd quarter valued at $211,000. 6.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SURG. Zacks Research lowered SurgePays from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of SurgePays in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Ascendiant Capital Markets cut their target price on SurgePays from $5.00 to $3.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.50.

SurgePays Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SURG traded down $0.00 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $0.24. 194,547 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,224,363. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.12 and a beta of 0.38. SurgePays has a 52 week low of $0.23 and a 52 week high of $3.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $0.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $0.76.

SurgePays (NASDAQ:SURG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $15.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.49 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SurgePays will post -0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About SurgePays

SurgePays, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial technology and telecom company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Mobile Virtual Network Operators, Comprehensive Platform Services, and Lead Generation. The company offers subsidized and non-subsidized mobile virtual network operators for internet connectivity through mobile broadband services to consumers; ACH banking relationships and fintech transactions platform to convenience stores; wireless top-up transactions and wireless product aggregation; and lead generation and case management solutions primarily to law firms in the mass tort industry, as well as call center activities.