Short Interest in HighPeak Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:HPK) Expands By 29.8%

HighPeak Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:HPK) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,530,000 shares, an increase of 29.8% from the February 13th total of 4,260,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 264,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 20.9 days. Currently, 29.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HighPeak Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in HighPeak Energy by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,158,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,735,000 after buying an additional 135,792 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of HighPeak Energy by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 714,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,497,000 after acquiring an additional 71,802 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in HighPeak Energy by 135.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 707,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,819,000 after purchasing an additional 406,536 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in HighPeak Energy by 17.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 563,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,827,000 after purchasing an additional 82,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in HighPeak Energy by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 467,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,869,000 after purchasing an additional 164,398 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of HighPeak Energy from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th.

HighPeak Energy Price Performance

HPK stock traded down $0.25 on Tuesday, reaching $12.07. The company had a trading volume of 175,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 295,163. The company’s fifty day moving average is $13.57 and its 200 day moving average is $14.15. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.96. HighPeak Energy has a 1 year low of $10.66 and a 1 year high of $17.48.

HighPeak Energy (NASDAQ:HPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $234.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $247.32 million. HighPeak Energy had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 15.94%. The business’s revenue was down 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that HighPeak Energy will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

HighPeak Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. HighPeak Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.88%.

About HighPeak Energy

HighPeak Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. The company was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.