CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CEIX) Short Interest Down 12.3% in November

CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CEIX) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,560,000 shares, a drop of 12.3% from the November 15th total of 2,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 478,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days. Approximately 8.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of CONSOL Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in CONSOL Energy by 2,931.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CONSOL Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. CWM LLC increased its position in CONSOL Energy by 70.7% during the second 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. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CONSOL Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $104,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

CONSOL Energy Stock Down 1.3 %

CEIX traded down $1.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $116.48. 301,696 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 485,809. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. CONSOL Energy has a 12-month low of $75.43 and a 12-month high of $134.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $118.23 and a 200 day moving average of $105.12.

CONSOL Energy (NYSE:CEIX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $574.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $554.00 million. CONSOL Energy had a return on equity of 28.96% and a net margin of 18.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.11 EPS. Analysts predict that CONSOL Energy will post 11.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CONSOL Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. CONSOL Energy’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CEIX. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of CONSOL Energy from $109.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Benchmark increased their price objective on CONSOL Energy from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock 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.