The Lion Electric Company (NYSE:LEV) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

The Lion Electric Company (NYSE:LEV) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,020,000 shares, a decrease of 9.5% from the September 15th total of 4,440,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 265,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 15.2 days.

Lion Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:LEV traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $0.68. 70,104 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 418,300. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $0.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.36 and a beta of 2.14. Lion Electric has a 52-week low of $0.53 and a 52-week high of $1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Lion Electric (NYSE:LEV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $30.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.40 million. Lion Electric had a negative return on equity of 26.26% and a negative net margin of 51.81%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lion Electric will post -0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Lion Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEV. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Lion Electric by 14.3% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 239,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 30,050 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Lion Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lion Electric during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 52.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEV has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $1.00 target price (down previously from $1.50) on shares of Lion Electric in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Lion Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, B. Riley upgraded shares of Lion Electric to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1.52.

About Lion Electric

The Lion Electric Company designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes purpose-built all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles in North America. The company's products include battery systems, chassis, bus bodies, and truck cabins. It distributes truck and bus parts, as well as accessories.