Short Interest in CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CEIX) Rises By 77.0%

CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CEIX) saw a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,920,000 shares, a growth of 77.0% from the October 31st total of 1,650,000 shares. Approximately 10.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 495,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Institutional Trading of CONSOL Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in CONSOL Energy by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CONSOL Energy by 4.0% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of CONSOL Energy by 1.9% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of CONSOL Energy by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in CONSOL Energy by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CONSOL Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

CONSOL Energy stock traded down $1.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $131.39. 310,285 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 491,215. CONSOL Energy has a 1-year low of $75.43 and a 1-year high of $134.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $113.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 1.73.

CONSOL Energy (NYSE:CEIX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by $0.05. CONSOL Energy had a return on equity of 28.96% and a net margin of 18.02%. The business had revenue of $574.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $554.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that CONSOL Energy will post 11.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CONSOL Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. CONSOL Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 7.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CEIX shares. B. Riley boosted their price target on CONSOL Energy from $109.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of CONSOL Energy from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

About CONSOL Energy

CONSOL Energy Inc, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells bituminous coal in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Pennsylvania Mining Complex (PAMC) and CONSOL Marine Terminal. The company's PAMC segment engages in the mining, preparing, and marketing of bituminous coal to power generators, industrial end-users, and metallurgical end-users.