Excelerate Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Excelerate Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EE - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 873,800 shares, a growth of 8.7% from the December 15th total of 803,900 shares. Currently, 3.7% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 248,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Excelerate Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PDT Partners LLC boosted its stake in Excelerate Energy by 85.5% in the third quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 46,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 21,645 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Excelerate Energy by 299.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 26,822 shares of the company's stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 20,113 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Excelerate Energy in the third quarter valued at about $214,000. US Bancorp DE acquired a new position in Excelerate Energy in the third quarter valued at about $130,000. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Excelerate Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $342,000. Institutional investors own 21.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on EE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $31.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Excelerate Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Northland Securities upped their price objective on Excelerate Energy from $29.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Excelerate Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Excelerate Energy from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Excelerate Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.33.

Excelerate Energy Stock Performance

Excelerate Energy stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $32.31. The company had a trading volume of 158,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 195,899. The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.21 and a 200-day moving average of $24.05. Excelerate Energy has a 52 week low of $13.38 and a 52 week high of $32.47. The company has a quick ratio of 4.12, a current ratio of 4.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.64, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.42.

Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $193.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.09 million. Excelerate Energy had a net margin of 3.14% and a return on equity of 1.39%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Excelerate Energy will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Excelerate Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Excelerate Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Excelerate Energy's payout ratio is 24.24%.

Excelerate Energy Company Profile

Excelerate Energy, Inc provides flexible liquefied natural gas (LNG) solutions worldwide. The company offers regasification services, including floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), infrastructure development, and LNG and natural gas supply, procurement, and distribution services; LNG terminal services; and natural gas supply to-power projects.