Alpine Associates Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,079,688 Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY)

Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,079,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,699,000. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure accounts for approximately 1.1% of Alpine Associates Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Alpine Associates Management Inc. owned about 0.93% of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 4.3% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 9,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 4.1% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 28,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 35,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Folios Inc raised its holdings in shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure by 7.1% in the first quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 24,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. 40.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AY. UBS Group cut Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their price target on shares of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.67.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Stock Performance

AY opened at $21.93 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.05 and its 200-day moving average is $20.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 47.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.03. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc has a twelve month low of $16.35 and a twelve month high of $23.47.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (NASDAQ:AY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.06). Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure had a net margin of 3.59% and a return on equity of 2.54%. The company had revenue of $328.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.07 million. On average, analysts predict that Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.12%. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure’s payout ratio is currently 386.96%.

About Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc owns, manages, and invests in renewable energy, storage, natural gas and heat, electric transmission lines, and water assets in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company was formerly known as Atlantica Yield plc and changed its name to Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc in May 2020.