EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.50.

SATS has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James cut EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock.

EchoStar Price Performance

EchoStar stock opened at $22.75 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.97. The firm has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of -2.48 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.61. EchoStar has a one year low of $11.83 and a one year high of $30.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen acquired 1,551,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,499,994.20. Following the purchase, the chairman now owns 1,551,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,499,994.20. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EchoStar

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of EchoStar by 3.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,589 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in EchoStar by 54.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,231 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of EchoStar by 9.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,790 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 3.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 69,602 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,240,000 after buying an additional 2,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of EchoStar by 0.6% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 390,077 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,947,000 after acquiring an additional 2,445 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

About EchoStar

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.