Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) issued its earnings results on Friday. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.20, FiscalAI reports. Viasat had a negative net margin of 13.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT traded up $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $35.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,137,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,501,799. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.75 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Viasat has a fifty-two week low of $6.69 and a fifty-two week high of $40.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $3,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 197,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,111,991. The trade was a 33.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 69.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 252,466 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,631,000 after buying an additional 103,396 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Viasat by 6.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,184 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 14,575 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Viasat by 189.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 452,933 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,692,000 after acquiring an additional 296,612 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Viasat by 483.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 109,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 90,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat in the 2nd quarter valued at about $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VSAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.29.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide. The company's Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services, including broadband internet access and voice over internet protocol services to consumers and businesses; in-flight entertainment and aviation software services to commercial airlines and private business jets; satellite-based connectivity services; mobile broadband services, including satellite-based internet services to energy offshore vessels, cruise ships, consumer ferries, and yachts; and energy services, which include ultra-secure solutions IP connectivity, bandwidth-optimized over-the-top applications, industrial internet-of-things big data enablement, and industry-leading machine learning analytics.