Optimum Communications, Inc. (NYSE:OPTU) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Optimum Communications, Inc. (NYSE:OPTU) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $0.95.

OPTU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Optimum Communications from $2.00 to $1.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup lowered shares of Optimum Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced 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 price objective on shares of Optimum Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial cut Optimum Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Optimum Communications from $2.00 to $1.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 14th.

Insider Transactions at Optimum Communications

In other Optimum Communications news, General Counsel Michael Olsen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.59, for a total transaction of $31,800.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,199,781 shares in the company, valued at $1,907,651.79. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $71,800 over the last quarter. 43.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Optimum Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 140 Summer Partners LP bought a new position in Optimum Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,615,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Optimum Communications by 11.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,803,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,217,000 after buying an additional 879,589 shares in the last quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Optimum Communications by 42.3% during the third quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 5,768,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,903,000 after buying an additional 1,715,073 shares during the period. Cerberus Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Optimum Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $6,502,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Optimum Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $46,002,000. Institutional investors own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

Optimum Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OPTU traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $1.15. The company had a trading volume of 10,681,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,083,048. The stock has a market cap of $547.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.12 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.44. Optimum Communications has a one year low of $0.58 and a one year high of $2.98.

About Optimum Communications

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.