Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) Raised to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on OPTU. Citigroup lowered Optimum Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $1.50 to $0.50 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Evercore set a $1.25 target price on Optimum Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Optimum Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on Optimum Communications from $2.00 to $1.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $1.00 price objective on Optimum Communications in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $0.95.

Optimum Communications Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of OPTU opened at $0.87 on Friday. Optimum Communications has a fifty-two week low of $0.58 and a fifty-two week high of $2.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.38. The company has a market cap of $412.19 million, a P/E ratio of -0.09 and a beta of 1.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Michael Olsen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.59, for a total value of $31,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,199,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,907,651.79. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 60,000 shares of company stock worth $71,800 in the last three months. 43.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Optimum Communications during the 4th quarter worth $46,002,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $41,297,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $27,135,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $24,478,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Optimum Communications by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,803,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,217,000 after purchasing an additional 879,589 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.