EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Trading Up 3.9% – Here’s Why

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS)’s stock price was up 3.9% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $142.73 and last traded at $141.80. Approximately 5,448,059 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 6,110,440 shares. The stock had previously closed at $136.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on SATS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. New Street Research began coverage on EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price target for the company. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on EchoStar in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.14.

EchoStar Stock Down 3.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $35.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.48 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $122.80 and a 200 day moving average of $108.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.03). EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.71) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that EchoStar Corporation will post -2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $7,634,457.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 823,293 shares in the company, valued at $88,520,463.36. The trade was a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $5,688,995.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 253,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,796,505.30. The trade was a 16.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EchoStar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in EchoStar by 4.1% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,089 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of EchoStar by 0.4% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 22,845 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,674,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of EchoStar by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,933 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Strs Ohio boosted its position in shares of EchoStar by 0.5% during the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 19,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,236,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of EchoStar by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EchoStar Company Profile

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.