Wall Street Zen Downgrades Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) to Strong Sell

Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

OPTU has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore set a $1.25 target price on shares of Optimum Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Optimum Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Optimum Communications from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup cut Optimum Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $1.50 to $0.50 in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Optimum Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Optimum Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $0.95.

Optimum Communications Stock Performance

Optimum Communications stock opened at $0.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $390.13 million, a P/E ratio of -0.08 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.35. Optimum Communications has a 1 year low of $0.58 and a 1 year high of $2.91.

Insider Activity at Optimum Communications

In other news, General Counsel Michael Olsen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.59, for a total value of $31,800.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,199,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,907,651.79. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $71,800 in the last ninety days. 43.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Optimum Communications

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of OPTU. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Optimum Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $54,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Optimum Communications by 4.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,082,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 43,279 shares during the last quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP raised its stake in Optimum Communications by 23.7% during the first quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 1,230,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,600,000 after purchasing an additional 235,559 shares during the period. Carronade Capital Management LP raised its stake in Optimum Communications by 9.3% during the first quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 6,573,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,546,000 after purchasing an additional 558,000 shares during the period. Finally, Helix Partners Management LP raised its stake in Optimum Communications by 36.0% during the first quarter. Helix Partners Management LP now owns 1,700,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 450,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

Optimum Communications Company Profile

Altice USA, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband communications and video services in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It offers broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to approximately five million residential and business customers. The company’s video services include delivery of broadcast stations and cable networks; over the top services; video-on-demand, high-definition channels, digital video recorder, and pay-per-view services; and platforms for video programming through mobile applications.