EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Raised to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS – Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. New Street Research assumed coverage on EchoStar in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.00.

Read Our Latest Research Report on EchoStar

EchoStar Stock Performance

EchoStar stock opened at $137.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $39.64 billion, a PE ratio of -2.74 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $120.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.25. EchoStar has a fifty-two week low of $14.90 and a fifty-two week high of $139.54.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.71) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that EchoStar will post -2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total transaction of $5,688,995.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 253,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,796,505.30. The trade was a 16.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total transaction of $7,634,457.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 823,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,520,463.36. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 55.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

About EchoStar

(Get Free Report)

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS) is a global provider of satellite communication solutions, offering a suite of broadband and video delivery services to consumer, enterprise and government customers. The company operates two principal business segments: Broadband and Video. Through its Broadband segment, EchoStar delivers high-speed satellite internet access, managed network services and ground infrastructure for residential, commercial and rural markets. Its Video segment provides satellite fleet operations, teleport facilities and capacity-leasing services to video distributors and content providers.

In the Broadband segment, EchoStar’s Hughes Network Systems division designs and manufactures satellite broadband equipment, including user terminals and gateways, and develops advanced network management technologies.

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