Short Interest in SurgePays, Inc. (NASDAQ:SURG) Expands By 61.2%

SurgePays, Inc. (NASDAQ:SURG) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 582,300 shares, a growth of 61.2% from the November 15th total of 361,300 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 495,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Anthony George Evers sold 36,666 shares of SurgePays stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.86, for a total transaction of $68,198.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 214,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,758.64. The trade was a 14.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin Brian Cox sold 35,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.82, for a total transaction of $64,027.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 5,770,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,501,563.80. This represents a 0.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SurgePays

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SurgePays by 8.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 505,380 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,946,000 after acquiring an additional 38,195 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SurgePays by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 148,018 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 15,039 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of SurgePays by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 84,946 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 15,956 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of SurgePays by 50.0% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 36,000 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the period. Finally, Corsair Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in SurgePays by 50.3% during the third quarter. Corsair Capital Management L.P. now owns 29,864 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 6.94% of the company’s stock.

SurgePays Price Performance

Shares of SURG traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1.78. The company had a trading volume of 452,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,837. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.31. The company has a market capitalization of $35.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.58 and a beta of 1.01. SurgePays has a 1-year low of $1.33 and a 1-year high of $9.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 4.70 and a current ratio of 6.24.

SurgePays (NASDAQ:SURG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.51). SurgePays had a negative return on equity of 55.63% and a negative net margin of 27.39%. The firm had revenue of $4.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Analysts expect that SurgePays will post -1.34 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Ascendiant Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of SurgePays from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th.

About SurgePays

SurgePays, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial technology and telecom company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Mobile Virtual Network Operators, Comprehensive Platform Services, and Lead Generation. The company offers subsidized and non-subsidized mobile virtual network operators for internet connectivity through mobile broadband services to consumers; ACH banking relationships and fintech transactions platform to convenience stores; wireless top-up transactions and wireless product aggregation; and lead generation and case management solutions primarily to law firms in the mass tort industry, as well as call center activities.