EchoStar Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:SATS)

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 30,431 call options on the company. This is an increase of 26% compared to the typical volume of 24,166 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SATS shares. Wall Street Zen raised EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. New Street Research initiated coverage on EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price target for the company. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EchoStar

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 134.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 324 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of SATS stock traded down $9.88 on Friday, hitting $114.76. The company had a trading volume of 5,749,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,258,230. The firm has a market cap of $33.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.30 and a beta of 0.94. EchoStar has a twelve month low of $14.90 and a twelve month high of $147.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $125.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.03). EchoStar had a negative net margin of 97.56% and a negative return on equity of 4.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.71) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that EchoStar will post -3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.