Short Interest in Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ:CLNE) Decreases By 5.3%

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ:CLNE) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,820,000 shares, a decrease of 5.3% from the November 30th total of 11,420,000 shares. Currently, 6.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.6 days.

Clean Energy Fuels Stock Performance

Shares of CLNE stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $2.51. The company had a trading volume of 2,638,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,647,044. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.82. Clean Energy Fuels has a 52-week low of $2.17 and a 52-week high of $3.94. The stock has a market cap of $560.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.10 and a beta of 2.14.

Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.04. Clean Energy Fuels had a negative return on equity of 7.59% and a negative net margin of 17.32%. The firm had revenue of $104.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Clean Energy Fuels will post -0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CLNE shares. StockNews.com raised Clean Energy Fuels from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Clean Energy Fuels from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $5.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Clean Energy Fuels by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 69,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 6,637 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Clean Energy Fuels by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 53,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 6,884 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Clean Energy Fuels by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 292,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after acquiring an additional 6,989 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Clean Energy Fuels during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Clean Energy Fuels by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 65,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 11,534 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.94% of the company’s stock.

About Clean Energy Fuels

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. provides natural gas as alternative fuels for vehicle fleets and related fueling solutions in the United States and Canada. It supplies renewable natural gas (RNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for medium and heavy-duty vehicles; and offers operation and maintenance services for public and private vehicle fleet customer stations.