Short Interest in Nikola Co. (NASDAQ:NKLA) Rises By 54.3%

Nikola Co. (NASDAQ:NKLA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,840,000 shares, a growth of 54.3% from the November 30th total of 13,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,000,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 25.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NKLA shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Nikola from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Nikola from $12.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Nikola from $10.00 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bryan, Garnier & Co cut shares of Nikola from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nikola presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nikola

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Nikola by 137.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 264,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 153,494 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Nikola in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,214,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Nikola by 193.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 140,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 92,612 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Nikola by 84.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 45,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 20,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Nikola in the third quarter valued at about $326,000. 37.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nikola Trading Up 0.9 %

Nikola stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1.15. 10,245,013 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,228,356. The firm has a market cap of $70.00 million, a PE ratio of -0.08 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.85. Nikola has a 12-month low of $1.08 and a 12-month high of $34.50.

Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($2.75) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.24) by ($0.51). The business had revenue of $25.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.23 million. Nikola had a negative return on equity of 95.73% and a negative net margin of 840.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1382.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Nikola Company Profile

Nikola Corporation operates as a technology innovator and integrator that develops energy and transportation solutions in the United States and internationally. The company operates in truck and energy units. It commercializes battery electric vehicles (BEV) and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) to the trucking sector.