EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.25.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SATS. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of EchoStar from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Raymond James downgraded shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen acquired 1,551,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,499,994.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,551,355 shares in the company, valued at $43,499,994.20. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EchoStar

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SATS. Darsana Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the second quarter worth $36,908,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of EchoStar by 51.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,243,761 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $39,961,000 after buying an additional 762,462 shares during the period. Stonehill Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the third quarter worth $9,235,000. Monarch Alternative Capital LP increased its position in shares of EchoStar by 23.6% during the second quarter. Monarch Alternative Capital LP now owns 1,854,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,020,000 after buying an additional 354,000 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the second quarter worth $1,830,000. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of EchoStar stock opened at $23.30 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.59 and a 200-day moving average of $21.49. EchoStar has a 1-year low of $11.71 and a 1-year high of $30.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 0.69.

EchoStar Company Profile

EchoStar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides networking technologies and services worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Pay-TV, Retail Wireless, 5G Network Deployment, Broadband and Satellite Services. The Pay-TV segment offers a direct broadcast and fixed satellite services; designs, develops, and distributes receiver system; and provides digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and, other services to third-party pay-TV providers; and multichannel, live-linear and on-demand streaming over-the-top internet-based domestic, international, Latino, and Freestream video programming services under the DISH and SLING brand names.