EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Price Target Raised to $158.00

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) had its target price lifted by TD Cowen from $100.00 to $158.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on SATS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on EchoStar from $87.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EchoStar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.17.

EchoStar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SATS opened at $120.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.30 and a 200-day moving average of $64.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.67 and a beta of 1.02. EchoStar has a fifty-two week low of $14.90 and a fifty-two week high of $120.53.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($44.37) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($43.14). The company had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. EchoStar had a negative net margin of 85.36% and a positive return on equity of 0.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.52) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that EchoStar will post -1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at EchoStar

In other news, COO John Swieringa sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.34, for a total transaction of $1,481,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 283,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,091,496.06. This trade represents a 7.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.33, for a total transaction of $30,106,684.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 376,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,688,870.65. The trade was a 43.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EchoStar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SATS. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new stake in EchoStar during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in EchoStar by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 838 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of EchoStar by 593.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 922 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About EchoStar

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.