Stonehill Capital Management LLC Acquires New Stake in EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS)

Stonehill Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 372,089 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,235,000. EchoStar accounts for approximately 5.5% of Stonehill Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Stonehill Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of EchoStar at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 44.8% during the third quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $74,460,000 after purchasing an additional 927,695 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in EchoStar by 51.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,243,761 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $39,961,000 after acquiring an additional 762,462 shares in the last quarter. Monarch Alternative Capital LP lifted its position in shares of EchoStar by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. Monarch Alternative Capital LP now owns 1,854,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $33,020,000 after acquiring an additional 354,000 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,001,832 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $17,843,000 after purchasing an additional 29,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased 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 worth $6,947,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445 shares during the period. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at EchoStar

In other news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen acquired 1,551,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.04 per share, with a total value of $43,499,994.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 1,551,355 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,499,994.20. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 55.90% of the company's stock.

EchoStar Price Performance

NASDAQ:SATS traded down $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $23.93. The company had a trading volume of 908,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,802,467. EchoStar Co. has a 52 week low of $11.12 and a 52 week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.62 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SATS shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. TD Cowen cut their target price on EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Raymond James lowered EchoStar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, EchoStar presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.25.

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.