EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $111.79 and last traded at $111.2050, with a volume of 460409 shares. The stock had previously closed at $108.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SATS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of EchoStar from $28.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $87.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.80.

EchoStar Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock has a market cap of $32.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.48 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.90.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. EchoStar had a negative net margin of 85.36% and a positive return on equity of 0.39%. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.52) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that EchoStar Corporation will post -1.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EchoStar news, COO John Swieringa sold 22,000 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.34, for a total transaction of $1,481,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 283,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,091,496.06. The trade was a 7.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 376,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,688,870.65. This represents a 43.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EchoStar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new stake in EchoStar in the third quarter worth approximately $420,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in EchoStar by 7.3% during the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 26,600 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,031,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at $451,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter worth about $576,000. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $505,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

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.