Hut 8 (NASDAQ:HUT) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Hut 8 Corp. (NASDAQ:HUT) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $69.04, but opened at $73.20. Hut 8 shares last traded at $68.5510, with a volume of 861,541 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HUT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Hut 8 from $143.00 to $123.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Hut 8 from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Hut 8 from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. BTIG Research increased their target price on Hut 8 from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Compass Point set a $195.00 target price on Hut 8 in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $148.09.

Hut 8 Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.97 and a beta of 4.62. The company has a current ratio of 19.35, a quick ratio of 19.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.86.

Hut 8 (NASDAQ:HUT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.27) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.55) by ($0.72). The firm had revenue of $74.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.37 million. Hut 8 had a negative net margin of 188.59% and a negative return on equity of 0.97%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hut 8 Corp. will post -2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sean Glennan sold 6,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.76, for a total transaction of $507,608.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 17,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,415,947.28. The trade was a 26.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Mayo Shattuck, III sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $2,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 89,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,940,800. This represents a 18.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUT. GK Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hut 8 in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hut 8 by 175.0% in the second quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Hut 8 by 258.5% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 380 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hut 8 during the first quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Hut 8 by 42.1% during the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.75% of the company’s stock.

Hut 8 Company Profile

Hut 8 Corp. is a North American energy infrastructure and computing company whose business includes digital asset mining, high-performance computing and data center operations. The company develops and manages power and infrastructure assets intended to support energy-intensive computing applications.

Hut 8’s activities have historically centered on Bitcoin mining, supported by company-operated data centers and specialized mining equipment. It also provides infrastructure for emerging computing applications, including artificial intelligence and other high-performance computing workloads, as it seeks to expand beyond cryptocurrency mining.

The company was established in Canada and expanded its operations in the United States through its combination with U.S.