Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (NASDAQ:AY)

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 3,127 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 448% compared to the average daily volume of 571 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure during the fourth quarter worth $4,007,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 36.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 2,904 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure during the third quarter valued at $399,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 1.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,927,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,915,000 after buying an additional 33,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rock Point Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure during the third quarter valued at $1,492,000. 40.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Stock Performance

Shares of AY stock opened at $19.91 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.97. The company has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of 47.41, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure has a 12-month low of $16.35 and a 12-month high of $28.25.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (NASDAQ:AY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.25. The business had revenue of $241.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.81 million. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure had a return on equity of 2.91% and a net margin of 4.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure’s payout ratio is presently 423.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America decreased 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 research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.67.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Company Profile

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.