Investors Purchase Large Volume of NuScale Power Call Options (NYSE:SMR)

Key Points

• NuScale Power experienced a significant increase in call options trading, with 107,856 options bought, marking a 63% rise compared to its usual trading volume of 66,172 options.
• Analysts have provided a range of ratings for NuScale Power, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.09, following several recent upgrades and downgrades.
• Insider trading activity saw a notable sell-off, including a transaction where a director sold over 1.1 million shares for approximately $46.5 million, reducing their ownership in the company by 8.74%.

NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE:SMR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 107,856 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 63% compared to the average volume of 66,172 call options.

NuScale Power Trading Up 22.0%

SMR stock traded up $8.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $46.52. The stock had a trading volume of 51,875,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,298,589. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.89. NuScale Power has a 52 week low of $9.71 and a 52 week high of $53.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.09 and a beta of 2.03.

NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $8.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.49 million. NuScale Power had a negative net margin of 221.07% and a positive return on equity of 2.61%. As a group, equities analysts expect that NuScale Power will post -0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SMR. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on NuScale Power in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research cut NuScale Power from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on NuScale Power in a research report on Friday, July 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $41.00 price target for the company. Citigroup started coverage on NuScale Power in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on NuScale Power from $44.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NuScale Power has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NuScale Power news, Director Corp Fluor sold 1,193,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.95, for a total transaction of $46,486,980.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,457,907 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $485,235,477.65. This represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Ramsey Hamady sold 30,641 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.59, for a total transaction of $1,090,513.19. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 46,283 shares in the company, valued at $1,647,211.97. The trade was a 39.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,590,940 shares of company stock valued at $97,907,007 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NuScale Power

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in NuScale Power by 84.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 784 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in shares of NuScale Power by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in NuScale Power by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,156 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NuScale Power during the second quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in NuScale Power in the second quarter valued at about $61,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NuScale Power Company Profile

NuScale Power Corporation engages in the development and sale of modular light water reactor nuclear power plants to supply energy for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, hydrogen production, and other process heat applications. It offers NuScale Power Module (NPM), a water reactor that can generate 77 megawatts of electricity (MWe); and VOYGR power plant designs for three facility sizes that are capable of housing from one to four and six or twelve NPMs.