Citigroup Downgrades DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH) to Neutral

DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH – Get Rating) was downgraded by stock analysts at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, The Fly reports. They currently have a $8.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $18.00. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.94% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of DISH Network from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $27.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of DISH Network from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of DISH Network from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Credit Suisse Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of DISH Network in a report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of DISH Network from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.14.

DISH Network Trading Up 7.1 %

NASDAQ:DISH opened at $6.67 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $7.75 and its 200-day moving average is $11.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77. DISH Network has a 52 week low of $5.94 and a 52 week high of $23.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.79.

DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. DISH Network had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 12.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that DISH Network will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at DISH Network

In other news, Director James Defranco bought 500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.88 per share, for a total transaction of $5,440,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 504,642 shares in the company, valued at $5,490,504.96. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 4,100,000 shares of company stock worth $35,317,000. Insiders own 55.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sargent Bickham Lagudis LLC raised its position in DISH Network by 260.0% in the 4th quarter. Sargent Bickham Lagudis LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of DISH Network in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of DISH Network by 268.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in DISH Network by 3,175.4% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 2,064 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in DISH Network in the third quarter valued at $37,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About DISH Network

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DISH Network Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of pay-tv services. It operates through the Pay-TV and Wireless segments. The Pay-TV segment operates under the DISH brand and Sling brand. The Wireless segment refers to the wireless spectrum licenses and related assets. The company was founded by Charles William Ergen, Cantey M.