Short Interest in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) Decreases By 14.3%

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) saw a large decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, a decline of 14.3% from the May 31st total of 2,660,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,920,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rational Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 113.8% in the first quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Clean Yield Group lifted its position in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 6,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 9,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $191,000. Institutional investors own 40.53% of the company’s stock.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AY opened at $21.95 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.25. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure has a 1 year low of $16.35 and a 1 year high of $25.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.09.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (NASDAQ:AY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The utilities provider reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $242.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.87 million. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 3.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.11%. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 386.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. National Bank Financial lowered shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. National Bankshares increased their price objective on Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.67.

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.