Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) Short Interest Update

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,570,000 shares, a decrease of 10.8% from the July 15th total of 1,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,570,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Stock Performance

Shares of AY remained flat at $22.13 during mid-day trading on Friday. 1,470,323 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,309,308. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.45. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure has a 52-week low of $16.35 and a 52-week high of $23.57. The company has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.02.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (NASDAQ:AY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.18 EPS 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 company had revenue of $328.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.07 million. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 386.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AY shares. UBS Group cut shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. National Bankshares boosted their price target on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure in a research report on Sunday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 21,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,708 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 17,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,537 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 42,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure during the fourth quarter worth about $255,000. Finally, Beck Bode LLC lifted its stake in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 465,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,018,000 after buying an additional 56,958 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.