Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday after Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $265.00 to $240.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Charter Communications traded as low as $192.52 and last traded at $193.4110, with a volume of 209153 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $194.61.

CHTR has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (down previously from $240.00) on shares of Charter Communications in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Charter Communications from $475.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Charter Communications from $440.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Charter Communications from $325.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Charter Communications in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charter Communications has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $313.31.

Insider Transactions at Charter Communications

In other Charter Communications news, Director David C. Merritt sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.18, for a total transaction of $271,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,294,822.28. This represents a 10.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charter Communications

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Charter Communications in the second quarter worth about $1,145,387,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Charter Communications by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,961,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,190,302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475,383 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Charter Communications during the third quarter valued at about $327,179,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Charter Communications by 13.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,362,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,575,630,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Charter Communications by 826.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,240,000 after buying an additional 1,109,703 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.76% of the company’s stock.

Charter Communications Stock Down 2.5%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $204.71 and its 200 day moving average is $257.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.56 billion, a PE ratio of 5.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.06.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $8.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.66 by ($1.32). Charter Communications had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 25.55%. The firm had revenue of $13.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.82 earnings per share. Charter Communications’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Charter Communications, Inc. will post 38.16 EPS for the current year.

About Charter Communications

Charter Communications, Inc is a U.S.-based telecommunications and mass media company that provides broadband communications and video services to residential and business customers. Operating primarily under the Spectrum brand, the company offers high-speed internet, cable television, digital voice (phone) and wireless services, as well as managed and enterprise networking solutions for commercial customers. Charter’s service portfolio targets both consumer and business markets with bundled and standalone offerings designed to meet streaming, connectivity and communications needs.

The company’s consumer-facing products include Spectrum Internet, Spectrum TV and Spectrum Voice, while Spectrum Mobile provides wireless service through arrangements with national wireless carriers.