EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) Receives $108.80 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS – Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $132.1667.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SATS. Zacks Research cut shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on EchoStar from $28.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on EchoStar from $87.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on EchoStar

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John Swieringa sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.34, for a total transaction of $1,481,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 283,509 shares in the company, valued at $19,091,496.06. The trade was a 7.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 376,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,688,870.65. This represents a 43.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 55.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SATS. Vigilare Wealth Management acquired a new position in EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth $542,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of EchoStar by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $420,000. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in shares of EchoStar by 7.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of SATS stock opened at $112.16 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $87.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.61. EchoStar has a 1 year low of $14.90 and a 1 year high of $117.15. The firm has a market cap of $32.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.50 and a beta of 1.02.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS – Get Free Report) last posted its 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). EchoStar had a negative net margin of 85.36% and a positive return on equity of 0.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.52) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that EchoStar will post -1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

About EchoStar

(Get Free Report)

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.

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