Short Interest in NuScale Power Co. (NYSE:SMR) Drops By 22.6%

NuScale Power Co. (NYSE:SMR) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,690,000 shares, a decrease of 22.6% from the March 15th total of 15,100,000 shares. Currently, 20.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SMR shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of NuScale Power from $2.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of NuScale Power from $4.25 to $8.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of NuScale Power in a research report on Monday, January 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $4.25 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $4.50 price objective (down from $7.50) on shares of NuScale Power in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.75.

NuScale Power Stock Performance

SMR traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $4.85. 3,967,003 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,459,815. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.06 and a beta of 1.06. NuScale Power has a one year low of $1.81 and a one year high of $11.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.73.

NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 million. NuScale Power had a negative return on equity of 29.93% and a negative net margin of 255.86%. On average, research analysts anticipate that NuScale Power will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John Lawrence Hopkins sold 59,768 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.20, for a total transaction of $251,025.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NuScale Power

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in NuScale Power during the 2nd quarter worth $92,000. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of NuScale Power during the second quarter worth about $236,000. Northern Trust Corp acquired a new stake in shares of NuScale Power during the second quarter worth about $1,436,000. American International Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of NuScale Power during the 2nd quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of NuScale Power in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $165,000. 15.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About NuScale Power

NuScale Power Corporation engages in the development and sale of modular light water reactor nuclear power plants to supply energy for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, hydrogen production, and other process heat applications. It offers NuScale Power Module (NPM), a water reactor that can generate 77 megawatts of electricity (MWe); and VOYGR power plant designs for three facility sizes that are capable of housing from one to four and six or twelve NPMs.