EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $132.1667.

SATS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Williams Trading set a $158.00 target price on EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research lowered EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 7th.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.33, for a total value of $30,106,684.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 376,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,688,870.65. This trade represents a 43.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.34, for a total transaction of $1,481,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 283,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,091,496.06. The trade was a 7.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SATS. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar during the third quarter worth about $28,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new stake in EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton purchased a new position in EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Price Performance

NASDAQ SATS opened at $113.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The company has a market cap of $32.66 billion, a PE ratio of -2.53 and a beta of 1.02. EchoStar has a 52 week low of $14.90 and a 52 week high of $132.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.86.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($44.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($43.14). The business had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. EchoStar had a negative net margin of 85.36% and a positive return on equity of 0.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.52) EPS. Research analysts predict that EchoStar will post -1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.