Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,540,000 shares, an increase of 11.0% from the March 15th total of 23,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,380,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 11.2 days. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Clear Channel Outdoor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCO. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Clear Channel Outdoor in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Optas LLC bought a new position in shares of Clear Channel Outdoor in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Clear Channel Outdoor by 12,212.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 20,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 20,761 shares in the last quarter. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. bought a new position in shares of Clear Channel Outdoor in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Clear Channel Outdoor in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 85.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Clear Channel Outdoor Price Performance

Shares of Clear Channel Outdoor stock opened at $1.45 on Wednesday. Clear Channel Outdoor has a one year low of $0.99 and a one year high of $2.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $701.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.23 and a beta of 2.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.55.

Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $632.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Clear Channel Outdoor will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $2.50 price target on shares of Clear Channel Outdoor in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Clear Channel Outdoor from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $1.50 to $2.75 in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Clear Channel Outdoor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Clear Channel Outdoor from $1.50 to $2.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.16.

About Clear Channel Outdoor

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc operates as an out-of-home advertising company in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through America, Airports, Europe-North, and Other segments. The company provides advertising services through billboards, including bulletins and posters, as well as spectaculars, which are customized display structures with videos, multi-dimensional lettering and figures, mechanical devices, moving parts, and other embellishments; street furniture displays, such as advertising surfaces on bus shelters, information kiosks, news racks, and other public structures; transit displays for rail stations and on various types of vehicles; retail displays; and airport advertising displays.