Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) was the target of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,050,000 shares, a drop of 15.6% from the September 30th total of 4,800,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 759,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Quanta Services Price Performance

Shares of PWR stock traded down $1.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $311.50. 923,000 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 885,225. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Quanta Services has a 52-week low of $153.74 and a 52-week high of $317.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $288.27 and a 200 day moving average of $271.82. The company has a market cap of $45.89 billion, a PE ratio of 58.92 and a beta of 1.01.

Quanta Services (NYSE:PWR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $5.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Quanta Services had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 3.59%. Quanta Services’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Quanta Services will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Quanta Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Quanta Services’s payout ratio is 6.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quanta Services

In other Quanta Services news, COO James Redgie Probst sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.03, for a total value of $8,841,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,541,390.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Quanta Services news, COO James Redgie Probst sold 34,000 shares of Quanta Services stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.03, for a total value of $8,841,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,541,390.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerald A. Ducey, Jr. sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.93, for a total value of $3,868,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,490,297.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 202,357 shares of company stock valued at $53,115,572. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quanta Services

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PWR. Geneva Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quanta Services during the third quarter worth $1,859,000. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Quanta Services by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 30,648 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,138,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Legacy CG LLC acquired a new stake in Quanta Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,185,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in Quanta Services by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 395 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Quanta Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Quanta Services from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Quanta Services from $287.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Quanta Services from $313.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Northland Securities increased their price objective on Quanta Services from $264.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Quanta Services from $302.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.07.

About Quanta Services

Quanta Services, Inc provides infrastructure solutions for the electric and gas utility, renewable energy, communications, and pipeline and energy industries in the United States, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company’s Electric Power Infrastructure Solutions segment engages in the design, procurement, construction, upgrade, repair, and maintenance of electric power transmission and distribution infrastructure and substation facilities; installation, maintenance, and upgrade of electric power infrastructure projects; installation of smart grid technologies on electric power networks; and design, installation, maintenance, and repair of commercial and industrial wirings.