Charge Enterprises (NASDAQ:CRGE) stock is up 180% today, although the reason behind this significant gain isn’t exactly clear. Even with the gains, CRGE stock is still down by 85% year-over-year (YOY).
The company has not recently published any press releases or submitted any U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings to explain the run-up. Charge’s last SEC filing relates to an agreement amendment that “modifies the definition of ‘EBITDA’ to include the EBITDA performance of Charge Infrastructure in addition to Greenspeed.”
Meanwhile, the firm’s last press release on Dec. 5. disclosed that it had been selected by Georgia dealership Akins Ford to construct 19 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and a 450 kilowatt DC solar photovoltaic (PV) system. Charge began working on the project in the middle of December.
A short squeeze could be the culprit, although there were only 4.62 million shares of CRGE stock sold short as of Dec. 31. That’s equivalent to a short interest as a percentage of float of just 4%. Generally, a short interest of 10% is considered high, while a short interest of 20% or above is considered very high.
5 Investors Betting Big on CRGE Stock
Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large investors provide liquidity and support for stocks. During the third quarter, 68 13F filers disclosed a stake in Charge, a decline of three filers from the prior quarter. It isn’t exactly surprising to see that not many filers own shares of CRGE stock, given its penny stock status. WhaleWisdom reports that 13F filers own 36.15 million shares of the company, up slightly by 1.51% compared to Q2.
In total, institutional investors own 18.16% of all shares outstanding, while insiders own 44.64%. Additionally, institutional investors own 32.79% of Charge’s float.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at Charge’s largest shareholders as of Q3:
- Arena Investors: 11.60 million shares. Arena’s stake remained unchanged during Q3.
- BlackRock (NYSE:BLK): 8.04 million shares. BlackRock sold 31,093 shares during Q3.
- Vanguard: 5.22 million shares. Vanguard acquired 115,038 shares during Q3.
- Geode Capital Management: 2.49 million shares. Geode acquired 201,078 shares during Q3.
- State Street (NYSE:STT): 2.38 million shares. State Street acquired 1,612 shares during Q3.
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On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
