Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS) Shares Down 7% – Should You Sell?

Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS)’s stock price was down 7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $2.03 and last traded at $2.06. Approximately 2,178,353 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 2,986,998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ATUS. Citigroup upped their target price on Altice USA from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Altice USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $3.50 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altice USA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.28.

Altice USA Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $2.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of -10.63 and a beta of 1.65.

Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.16). On average, equities research analysts expect that Altice USA, Inc. will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Altice USA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altice USA by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,291,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,722,000 after purchasing an additional 208,478 shares in the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Altice USA by 785.0% in the fourth quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP now owns 17,700,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,657,000 after buying an additional 15,700,000 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Altice USA by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 12,489,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,300 shares during the last quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. grew its stake in Altice USA by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. now owns 12,192,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,383,000 after acquiring an additional 2,192,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Altice USA by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,530,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,968,000 after acquiring an additional 506,057 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

About Altice USA

Altice USA, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband communications and video services in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It offers broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to residential and business customers. The company's video services include delivery of broadcast stations and cable networks; over the top services; video-on-demand, high-definition channels, digital video recorder, and pay-per-view services; and platforms for video programming through mobile applications.