NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE:SMR) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest jumped to 66,321,822 shares as of April 15 (up 23.9% from March 31), equal to about 19.9% of the stock and a short-interest ratio of 2.2 days.
• Company insiders sold heavily, offloading 40,572,082 shares worth $481,029,608 in the past three months (including the CEO's sale), leaving insiders with just 1.20% ownership.
• Analysts have a consensus Hold rating with a consensus price target of $19.77, while recent broker cuts (e.g., RBC to $14, HSBC $13) accompany a quarterly earnings miss (EPS -$0.80 vs. -$0.10 estimate) and weak revenue of $1.81M.

NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE:SMR - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 66,321,822 shares, an increase of 23.9% from the March 31st total of 53,538,902 shares. Approximately 19.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 29,933,083 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on SMR. Bank of America upgraded shares of NuScale Power from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of NuScale Power from $21.00 to $14.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen cut shares of NuScale Power from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of NuScale Power in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on shares of NuScale Power in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $13.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John Lawrence Hopkins sold 82,667 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.22, for a total transaction of $1,010,190.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,429,959.96. This represents a 41.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clayton Scott sold 22,478 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.22, for a total transaction of $274,681.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 132,852 shares in the company, valued at $1,623,451.44. The trade was a 14.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 40,572,082 shares of company stock worth $481,029,608. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NuScale Power

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new stake in shares of NuScale Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $277,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of NuScale Power by 98.6% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 115,045 shares of the company's stock worth $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 57,115 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of NuScale Power by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,502,300 shares of the company's stock worth $16,285,000 after purchasing an additional 400,240 shares during the period. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co purchased a new stake in shares of NuScale Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $339,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new stake in shares of NuScale Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $124,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company's stock.

NuScale Power Stock Performance

NuScale Power stock traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $12.16. The company had a trading volume of 20,432,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,999,040. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.21 and a beta of 2.24. NuScale Power has a 1 year low of $8.85 and a 1 year high of $57.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.23.

NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.70). The company had revenue of $1.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.76 million. NuScale Power had a negative net margin of 1,130.26% and a negative return on equity of 55.23%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NuScale Power will post -0.44 EPS for the current year.

About NuScale Power

NuScale Power Corporation, trading on the NYSE American under the ticker SMR, is a pioneering developer of small modular nuclear reactors. Established in 2007 as a spinout from Oregon State University, the company is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. NuScale’s mission is to deliver zero-carbon baseload power through scalable modular reactor technology, aiming to transform traditional nuclear energy deployment.

At the core of NuScale’s offering is the VOYGR small modular reactor design, featuring 77-megawatt electric (MWe) modules with passive safety systems.

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