Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited Sees Significant Rise in Short Interest

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:KC) experienced a substantial increase in short interest throughout February. As of February 15th, the total short interest had risen to 13,120,000 shares, marking a 23.9% rise from the 10,590,000 shares recorded on January 31st. With an average trading volume of 4,130,000 shares, the current days-to-cover ratio stands at 3.2 days.

Institutional Investors' Stance on Kingsoft Cloud

Recently, hedge funds and institutional investors adjusted their positions in Kingsoft Cloud. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in the stock in the fourth quarter, valued at approximately $21,076,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC also acquired a new stake, amounting to roughly $16,345,000. Notably, Millennium Management LLC dramatically increased its investment in Kingsoft Cloud by 4,098.3% in the same quarter, after acquiring an additional 873,686 shares, totaling 895,004 shares worth $9,389,000. Additionally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake by 69.8% during the fourth quarter, now holding 867,934 shares valued at $9,105,000 after purchasing 356,834 extra shares. Lastly, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake by 628.2%, owning 806,902 shares now valued at $8,464,000 following a purchase of 696,094 shares. Currently, 13.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kingsoft Cloud's Price Performance

On Wednesday, Kingsoft Cloud shares (KC) rose by $1.19 to reach a trading price of $17.21. During this session, the trading volume reached 4,972,264 shares, surpassing the average volume of 3,855,129. The company holds a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.34 and a beta of 2.31. Over the past year, the stock has experienced a low of $2.02 and a high of $22.26. The 50-day simple moving average sits at $13.94, and the 200-day simple moving average is at $7.74. The current ratio and quick ratio stand at 0.67, while the debt-to-equity ratio is 0.10.

Analyst Insights

Several research firms have provided their perspectives on Kingsoft Cloud. Nomura recently downgraded the company from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating. Additionally, Nomura Securities changed its recommendation from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating. On a more positive note, UBS Group upgraded Kingsoft Cloud from a "neutral" to a "buy" rating, also raising the price target for the stock from $4.20 to $12.50. Currently, three analysts rated the stock with a hold rating, while five gave it a buy rating. According to MarketBeat data, the stock maintains an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $5.93.

About Kingsoft Cloud

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited specializes in providing cloud services primarily for businesses and organizations in China. Their product offerings include a range of cloud services such as infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS), which encompass cloud computing, networking, databases, big data, security, storage, and delivery solutions.

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