EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $132.17 and last traded at $131.09, with a volume of 13004319 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $123.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SATS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $100.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.17.

EchoStar Trading Up 5.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $37.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.92 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.61.

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

Insider Transactions at EchoStar

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EchoStar

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DLD Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 3rd quarter worth $2,481,700,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 15.5% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,960,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $248,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201,672 shares during the last quarter. Icahn Carl C acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at $332,513,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in EchoStar by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,449,193 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $95,553,000 after purchasing an additional 355,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in EchoStar by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,744,438 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $133,205,000 after purchasing an additional 48,322 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Company Profile

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.