DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH – Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of DISH Network from $33.00 to $18.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 13th. Credit Suisse Group restated an outperform rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of DISH Network in a report on Friday, February 24th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of DISH Network from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of DISH Network from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of DISH Network from a buy rating to an underperform rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $10.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $28.93.

DISH Network Price Performance

NASDAQ DISH opened at $9.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. DISH Network has a 12-month low of $8.98 and a 12-month high of $33.74. The company has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $13.21 and its 200-day moving average is $14.52.

DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $1.00. DISH Network had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 13.66%. The company had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that DISH Network will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other DISH Network news, Director James Defranco bought 1,450,000 shares of DISH Network stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $15,718,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,567,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,673,412.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 2,100,000 shares of company stock valued at $22,877,000. 53.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DISH Network

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in DISH Network by 231.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,268,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583,537 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in DISH Network by 3.6% during the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 39,723,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $712,243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380,282 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in DISH Network by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,957,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,775 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its position in DISH Network by 83.3% during the second quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,200,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in DISH Network by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,323,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $864,788,000 after purchasing an additional 597,587 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

DISH Network Company Profile

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DISH Network Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of pay-tv services. It operates through the Pay-TV and Wireless segments. The Pay-TV segment operates under the DISH brand and Sling brand. The Wireless segment refers to the wireless spectrum licenses and related assets. The company was founded by Charles William Ergen, Cantey M.