EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $137.7143.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. New Street Research set a $165.00 price target on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th.

EchoStar Stock Performance

SATS opened at $103.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. The company has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. EchoStar has a 52-week low of $24.15 and a 52-week high of $147.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.96.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last released its 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 company had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.71) EPS.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $6,362,906.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,741,593. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SATS. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 134.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 324 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

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.