U.S. Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:USEG) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

U.S. Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:USEG) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,193,823 shares, a drop of 36.6% from the April 30th total of 5,039,134 shares. Approximately 8.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,163,881 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Energy during the third quarter worth about $26,000. United Asset Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Energy by 61.5% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 44,841 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 17,080 shares in the last quarter. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on USEG shares. D. Boral Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $3.50 target price on shares of U.S. Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of U.S. Energy from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of U.S. Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.50.

U.S. Energy Stock Performance

Shares of USEG stock opened at $1.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 0.77. U.S. Energy has a one year low of $0.66 and a one year high of $2.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $0.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $0.98.

U.S. Energy (NASDAQ:USEG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The energy company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.04). U.S. Energy had a negative net margin of 213.60% and a negative return on equity of 49.96%. The company had revenue of $1.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that U.S. Energy will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

About U.S. Energy

U.S. Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: USEG) is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company that acquires, develops and operates hydrocarbon properties across onshore regions in the United States. The company’s activities encompass geological evaluation, drilling, completion and working-interest management, with an emphasis on cost-efficient development of discovered reserves and maximizing production from existing assets.

Over time, U.S. Energy has pursued growth through disciplined lease acquisitions, joint-venture partnerships and targeted drilling programs.