EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $147.25 and last traded at $136.45, with a volume of 8947675 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $137.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on SATS. Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price on EchoStar in a research report on Monday. New Street Research initiated coverage on EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.14.

EchoStar Trading Down 0.6%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $121.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.72 and a beta of 0.95.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.71) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that EchoStar Corporation will post -2.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In other news, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value of $5,688,995.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 253,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,796,505.30. This represents a 16.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $7,634,457.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 823,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,520,463.36. This trade represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SATS. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About EchoStar

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.