EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.50.

A number of research firms recently commented on SATS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of EchoStar to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Raymond James lowered shares of EchoStar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen cut their target price on EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $25.00 price target for the company.

Insider Transactions at EchoStar

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

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in EchoStar by 3.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,001,832 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $17,843,000 after buying an additional 29,577 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of EchoStar by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 19,848 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 3,893 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in EchoStar by 0.6% in the 2nd 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in EchoStar by 68.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,141 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 17,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in EchoStar by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,316 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 2,597 shares during the period. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EchoStar Stock Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ SATS traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 728,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,782,517. EchoStar has a fifty-two week low of $11.83 and a fifty-two week high of $30.08. The company has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of -2.46 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. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $24.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.86.

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.