Central Puerto S.A. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:CEPU) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 80.7% in September

Key Points

• Short interest surged 80.7% in September to 600,607 shares, representing 0.4% of CEPU’s outstanding stock and a short-interest ratio of 2.0 days.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Central Puerto has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.75, despite Bank of America lowering its target to $28 and another analyst downgrading the stock to “Hold.”
• CEPU shares traded near $12.63, well below their 12-month high of $18.50, while the company recently paid a $1.0758 special dividend and reported a 29.67% dividend payout ratio.

Central Puerto S.A. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:CEPU - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 600,607 shares, an increase of 80.7% from the September 15th total of 332,377 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 294,017 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CEPU shares. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Central Puerto from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Central Puerto from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Central Puerto in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Central Puerto presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Central Puerto

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Central Puerto in the second quarter valued at about $159,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Central Puerto by 285.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 132,818 shares of the company's stock worth $2,235,000 after buying an additional 98,380 shares during the last quarter. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new stake in shares of Central Puerto during the 1st quarter worth about $4,814,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Central Puerto during the 1st quarter worth about $271,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Central Puerto during the 1st quarter worth about $1,349,000. 2.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Central Puerto Stock Performance

NYSE:CEPU traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $12.63. The stock had a trading volume of 24,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,808. Central Puerto has a twelve month low of $8.57 and a twelve month high of $18.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.85. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $13.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.45.

Central Puerto Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 28th were paid a $1.0758 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 28th. Central Puerto's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

About Central Puerto

Central Puerto SA NYSE: CEPU is an Argentine electric power generation company. Its principal business is the development, ownership, operation and maintenance of power generation facilities that supply electricity to Argentina's wholesale electricity market and other customers under applicable market and contractual arrangements.

The company's generation portfolio includes conventional thermal power plants, hydroelectric facilities and renewable energy projects. Its operations use technologies such as natural-gas-fired and other thermal generation, hydroelectric power, and wind energy, giving Central Puerto exposure to multiple segments of Argentina's electricity industry.

Central Puerto was formed during the restructuring and privatization of Argentina's electricity sector and has expanded its portfolio through acquisitions, new construction and investments in generation capacity.

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