Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Optimum Communications, Inc. (NYSE:OPTU) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $1.50, but opened at $1.42. Optimum Communications shares last traded at $1.51, with a volume of 590,844 shares trading hands.

Specifically, General Counsel Michael Olsen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.40, for a total value of $28,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 1,239,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,735,693.40. This trade represents a 1.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on OPTU shares. Evercore set a $2.00 price target on shares of Optimum Communications in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered Optimum Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Benchmark downgraded Optimum Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Optimum Communications in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Optimum Communications from $3.00 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $2.19.

Optimum Communications Trading Up 0.3%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.00. The firm has a market cap of $708.04 million, a PE ratio of -0.38 and a beta of 1.51.

Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Optimum Communications, Inc. will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Optimum Communications

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OPTU. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new position in Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $736,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Optimum Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $348,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,520,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $329,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Optimum Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

Optimum Communications Company Profile

Altice USA, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband communications and video services in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It offers broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to approximately five million residential and business customers. The company’s video services include delivery of broadcast stations and cable networks; over the top services; video-on-demand, high-definition channels, digital video recorder, and pay-per-view services; and platforms for video programming through mobile applications.