Liberty Global’s (LBTYA) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their buy rating on shares of Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $33.00 target price on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on LBTYA. TheStreet upgraded Liberty Global from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Liberty Global from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Citigroup upgraded Liberty Global from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Friday, February 9th. New Street Research reiterated a neutral rating on shares of Liberty Global in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Liberty Global from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $24.25.

Liberty Global Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ LBTYA traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $17.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,059,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,599,900. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $16.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.19. Liberty Global has a 1-year low of $15.01 and a 1-year high of $20.56.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter. Liberty Global had a negative net margin of 37.27% and a negative return on equity of 14.07%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.59) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Liberty Global will post -0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Jason Waldron sold 11,226 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.29, for a total transaction of $216,549.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 70,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,363,147.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Liberty Global news, EVP Bryan H. Hall sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.68, for a total value of $280,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 129,934 shares in the company, valued at $2,427,167.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Jason Waldron sold 11,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.29, for a total transaction of $216,549.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 70,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,363,147.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,629 shares of company stock worth $2,046,783 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Global

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LBTYA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Liberty Global in the fourth quarter worth $73,550,000. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Global during the fourth quarter worth about $52,943,000. Lancaster Investment Management bought a new position in Liberty Global during the 4th quarter valued at $42,843,000. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its position in Liberty Global by 375.4% in the first quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 2,744,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,166,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in Liberty Global during the third quarter valued at $34,754,000. Institutional investors own 37.20% of the company’s stock.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony, and mobile communications services to residential and business customers. It offers value-added broadband services, such as WiFi features, security, anti-virus, firewall, spam protection, smart home services, online storage solutions, and web spaces; and Connect Box that delivers in-home Wi-Fi service.