Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $123.16 and last traded at $126.5060, with a volume of 5296271 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $129.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHTR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Charter Communications from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Charter Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Charter Communications from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. New Street Research reduced their price objective on shares of Charter Communications from $328.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Charter Communications in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $249.12.

Charter Communications Stock Down 2.1%

The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $136.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.02. The company has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.42, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.71.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $9.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.01 by ($0.84). Charter Communications had a net margin of 9.03% and a return on equity of 24.20%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Charter Communications, Inc. will post 41.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Charter Communications

In related news, Director Thomas Rutledge sold 18,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.94, for a total value of $2,674,308.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,968 shares in the company, valued at $583,057.92. This trade represents a 82.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mauricio Ramos purchased 9,929 shares of Charter Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $140.93 per share, with a total value of $1,399,293.97. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $2,721,217.37. This trade represents a 105.85% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $3,167,116. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its stake in Charter Communications by 1,804.0% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 102,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,403,000 after acquiring an additional 97,143 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charter Communications in the 4th quarter worth $5,911,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Charter Communications in the 4th quarter worth $555,383,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charter Communications by 119.6% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,969,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,885,000 after purchasing an additional 1,617,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Charter Communications by 110.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 31,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,521,000 after purchasing an additional 16,415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.76% of the company’s stock.

About Charter Communications

Charter Communications, Inc is a U.S.-based telecommunications and mass media company that provides broadband communications and video services to residential and business customers. Operating primarily under the Spectrum brand, the company offers high-speed internet, cable television, digital voice (phone) and wireless services, as well as managed and enterprise networking solutions for commercial customers. Charter’s service portfolio targets both consumer and business markets with bundled and standalone offerings designed to meet streaming, connectivity and communications needs.

The company’s consumer-facing products include Spectrum Internet, Spectrum TV and Spectrum Voice, while Spectrum Mobile provides wireless service through arrangements with national wireless carriers.