Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH)

Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CYH) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 11,874 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 447% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,170 call options.

Community Health Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CYH opened at $3.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $451.69 million, a P/E ratio of -3.16 and a beta of 1.52. Community Health Systems has a 1-year low of $2.01 and a 1-year high of $6.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $3.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.06.

Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Community Health Systems had a negative return on equity of 5.51% and a negative net margin of 1.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.43) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Community Health Systems will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community Health Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Community Health Systems by 16.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,239,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,095,000 after purchasing an additional 879,784 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Community Health Systems by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,583,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,475,000 after purchasing an additional 701,036 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Community Health Systems by 26.0% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,456,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,223,000 after purchasing an additional 300,115 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Community Health Systems by 20.5% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,715,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,974,000 after purchasing an additional 292,351 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Community Health Systems in the third quarter valued at about $469,000. 84.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CYH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Community Health Systems in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $3.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Community Health Systems from $5.50 to $4.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Community Health Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.00.

Community Health Systems Company Profile

Community Health Systems, Inc owns, leases, and operates general acute care hospitals in the United States. It offers general acute care, emergency room, general and specialty surgery, critical care, internal medicine, obstetrics, diagnostic, psychiatric, and rehabilitation services, as well as skilled nursing and home care services.