June Sees Surges In Solar Short Interest

Loading...
Loading...
Between the June 15 and June 30 settlement dates, the number of shares short in
Real Goods Solar, Inc.RGSE
and
Solaredge Technologies IncSEDG
soared. The
short interest
in
Vivint Solar IncVSLR
also rose noticeably. Otherwise, the short interest among the other leading U.S. solar-related stocks was mixed in the final two weeks of the month. Below is a quick look at how these three stocks have fared recently and what analysts expect from them. That is followed by a glance at short interest moves in other leading solar stocks. See also:
These 3 Stocks Are Seeing Short-Selling Activity Rise
Loading...
Loading...

Real Goods Solar

After dropping more than 51 percent in the previous period, short interest in this company, now known as RGS Energy, surged more than 852 percent to around 480,00 shares during the period. That was more than 14 percent of the float, and the average daily volume more than doubled. This Colorado-based solar energy company had a reverse stock split in May, and now it has a market capitalization of less than $8 million. Its operating margin and its return on equity both remain in the red, but double-digit percentage revenue growth is forecast for the current year and the next. Thomson/First Call listed no analyst recommendations, and no price targets since the reverse stock split, which took the number of outstanding shares down from about 96 million to less than 5 million. The company had received a delisting warning from Nasdaq earlier in the year. Short sellers watched the stock rise more than 50 percent, but give back all of that gain and more than 20 percent more during the two-week period. Over the past six months, the stock has underperformed Vivint Solar, as well as the Nasdaq and S&P 500.

SolarEdge Technologies

Short interest in this maker of PV solar panel components jumped from more than 448,000 at the previous settlement date to more than 642,000 by the end of June. That was the largest number of shares short since its initial public offering, and it was more than 5 percent of the total float. SolarEdge has teamed with
Tesla on the latter's Powerwall home battery system. SolarEdge held its initial public offering back in March and now has a market cap of around $1.3 billion. Its price-to-earnings ratio is sky-high, and its return on equity is in negative territory. All of the six analysts surveyed recommend buying SolarEdge shares, with two of them rating the stock at Strong Buy. Their mean price target, or where analysts expect the share price to go, is about 18 percent higher than the current share price. Yet, it is less than the post-IPO high. During the two-week period, the share price surged more than 14 percent but ended up down more than 3 percent. It has fallen more since then. Since its IPO, SolarEdge shares have outperformed not only the two other stocks featured here, but the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 as well.

Vivint Solar

The number of shares sold short in this company rose more than 9 percent in the period to more than 7.27 million, or more than 34 percent of the float. That is the greatest number of shares short since Vivint came public last fall. It would take about 13 days to close out all of the short positions. Like its competitors, shares of this Provo, Utah-based provider of residential solar energy systems had a rough June. Vivint has a market cap of $1.2 billion. The return on equity is in negative territory. Analysts anticipate net losses in the current quarter, as well as for the full year and the next. All but one of the seven analysts polled recommend buying Vivint shares, with two of them rating the stock at Strong Buy. They see lots of room for shares to run, as their mean price target indicates about 43 percent potential upside. That consensus target would be a post-IPO high as well. Short sellers watched the share price fall more than 9 percent during the period, and it has fallen further since that time. Over the past six months, the stock has outperformed the likes of First Solar and SolarCity, as well as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. See also: 9 Top Sell Ideas From Oppenheimer's Technical Analysis Division

And Others

Gains in the number of First Solar and SolarCity shares sold short during the period were more modest. However, short sellers retreated from Advanced Energy Industries, SunPower and TerraForm Power in the final two weeks of the month, and the short interest in SunEdison was essentially unchanged between the settlement dates. 8point3 Energy Partners had almost 600,000 shares short, or about 3 percent of the float, in its first short interest report since its IPO. Among foreign-based solar companies, the number of U.S.-listed shares (or ADSs) sold short in Canadian Solar, China Sunergy, Hanwha Q CELLS, JA Solar Holdings, JinkoSolar, ReneSola, Trina Solar and Yingli Green Energy all shrank during the period. At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities. Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following Benzinga on Twitter.
Loading...
Loading...
Posted In: Short IdeasTrading IdeasReal Goods SolarSolarEdge TechnologiesVivint Solar
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...