Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,800,000 shares, an increase of 14.6% from the July 31st total of 1,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,570,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure in a research note on Monday, August 26th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, National Bankshares boosted their price objective on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.67.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Stock Performance

Shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure stock opened at $21.81 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.07 and a 200-day moving average of $20.67. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 47.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 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 $23.47.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (NASDAQ:AY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.06). Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure had a return on equity of 2.50% and a net margin of 3.59%. The business had revenue of $328.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.07 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure’s dividend payout ratio is presently 386.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC raised its position in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 113.8% in the first quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 12.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 9,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. 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.