EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $137.7143.

Several research firms recently weighed in on SATS. Zacks Research cut shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, New Street Research set a $165.00 price objective on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, June 15th.

Insider Transactions at EchoStar

In related news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $6,362,906.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,741,593. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EchoStar

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of EchoStar during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 134.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 324 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of EchoStar stock opened at $103.80 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $119.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. EchoStar has a 52 week low of $24.15 and a 52 week high of $147.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.30.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last released its earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative net margin of 97.56% and a negative return on equity of 4.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.71) EPS.

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.