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

Shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment 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 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $137.1429.

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen raised EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Zacks Research cut EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th.

EchoStar Stock Down 2.1%

SATS stock opened at $120.92 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $125.50 and a 200 day moving average of $112.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.04 billion, a PE ratio of -2.41 and a beta of 0.94. 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 has a 52 week low of $14.90 and a 52 week high of $147.25.

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). The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.71) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that EchoStar will post -3.79 earnings per share for the current 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 shares were sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total transaction of $7,634,457.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 823,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,520,463.36. The trade was a 7.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 134.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 324 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.