Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ:STRZ) Stock Rating Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ:STRZ) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Raymond James Financial currently has $36.00 price target on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on STRZ. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Starz Entertainment in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Starz Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Starz Entertainment in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 price target on Starz Entertainment in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on Starz Entertainment in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.71.

Starz Entertainment Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of STRZ stock opened at $22.09 on Friday. Starz Entertainment has a 12 month low of $8.40 and a 12 month high of $32.58. The stock has a market cap of $378.18 million, a P/E ratio of -0.91 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.55.

Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ:STRZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported ($2.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.63) by ($0.39). The business had revenue of $322.40 million during the quarter. Starz Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 30.57% and a negative net margin of 32.52%. On average, research analysts expect that Starz Entertainment will post -6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Allen Family Capital, Llc sold 363,786 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.06, for a total value of $7,661,333.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,803,786 shares of company stock valued at $44,912,698 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 22.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Starz Entertainment in the 3rd quarter worth $360,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Starz Entertainment during the third quarter valued at about $184,000. Ratan Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Starz Entertainment during the second quarter valued at about $368,000. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Starz Entertainment during the second quarter valued at about $4,056,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Starz Entertainment in the second quarter valued at about $8,027,000.

Starz Entertainment News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Starz Entertainment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue reached approximately $322.4 million, ahead of expectations, while total and OTT revenue increased both sequentially and year over year. Adjusted OIBDA more than doubled from the prior year. Starz Entertainment third-quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Digital streaming revenue reached $227 million, and over-the-top bundling increased customer retention by more than 20%. These figures support management’s shift toward streaming and could improve the company’s long-term revenue quality. Starz: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded Starz Entertainment to “strong buy” from “outperform” and assigned a $36 price target. The target implies substantial potential upside from recent trading levels and adds support to the bullish case. Raymond James analyst upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Management reaffirmed its 2026 and 2027 targets, including OTT revenue growth, leverage reduction, adjusted OIBDA growth, unlevered free cash flow and a 20% adjusted OIBDA margin in the second half of 2027. Achieving those goals will depend on continued execution in a competitive streaming market.
• Negative Sentiment: Starz reported a quarterly loss of $2.02 per share, while Zacks cited a $2.14 loss, missing consensus estimates of $1.63 and $1.33, respectively. Although the loss narrowed from $2.63 a year earlier, the earnings miss may pressure the stock and highlights continuing profitability challenges. Starz third-quarter loss
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder Allen Family Capital disclosed a series of stock sales during August and September, collectively reducing its position by a substantial amount. The selling may weigh on sentiment, even though the transactions occurred before the latest earnings release. SEC ownership filing

About Starz Entertainment

Starz Entertainment Corp. is a media and entertainment company that operates premium subscription television and streaming services. Its offerings include the STARZ premium network, related linear television channels and the STARZ streaming platform, which provides original series, feature films and licensed entertainment content.

The company’s programming has included original dramas, comedies and franchises, as well as a selection of theatrical and television movies. STARZ content is distributed through traditional pay-TV providers, digital platforms and direct-to-consumer subscriptions, with availability varying by market and distribution partner.

Starz was established in 1994 as a premium television service and was acquired by Lionsgate in 2016.