Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $2.09, but opened at $1.76. Altice USA shares last traded at $1.99, with a volume of 324,811 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Altice USA had a negative return on equity of 1.54% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. Altice USA’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ATUS shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Altice USA in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $1.50 target price for the company. UBS Group cut Altice USA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $4.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Altice USA from $3.00 to $2.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Altice USA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Altice USA from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.07.

Institutional Trading of Altice USA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Altice USA by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 8,600 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altice USA by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,850,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,264,000 after acquiring an additional 396,275 shares during the last quarter. CastleKnight Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Altice USA by 676.6% during the fourth quarter. CastleKnight Management LP now owns 1,459,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,744,000 after buying an additional 1,271,734 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Altice USA in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,914,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Altice USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

Altice USA Trading Down 4.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $823.33 million, a PE ratio of 179.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $2.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.25.

About Altice USA

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 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.