Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on CHTR. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Charter Communications in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Charter Communications in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Charter Communications in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Charter Communications from $250.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Charter Communications in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $260.06.

Charter Communications Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:CHTR opened at $138.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.73, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.71. Charter Communications has a 1-year low of $124.05 and a 1-year high of $413.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $142.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $9.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.01 by ($0.84). Charter Communications had a net margin of 9.03% and a return on equity of 24.20%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Charter Communications will post 42.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Balan Nair acquired 1,000 shares of Charter Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $175.46 per share, for a total transaction of $175,460.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,110,608.34. The trade was a 9.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mauricio Ramos acquired 9,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $140.93 per share, for a total transaction of $1,399,293.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,721,217.37. This trade represents a 105.85% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 20,125 shares of company stock worth $3,167,116. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charter Communications

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its position in shares of Charter Communications by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Charter Communications by 255.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Charter Communications by 146.2% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Charter Communications by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Honeycomb Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Charter Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,737,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.76% of the company’s stock.

Charter Communications Company Profile

Charter Communications, Inc is a U.S.-based telecommunications and mass media company that provides broadband communications and video services to residential and business customers. Operating primarily under the Spectrum brand, the company offers high-speed internet, cable television, digital voice (phone) and wireless services, as well as managed and enterprise networking solutions for commercial customers. Charter’s service portfolio targets both consumer and business markets with bundled and standalone offerings designed to meet streaming, connectivity and communications needs.

The company’s consumer-facing products include Spectrum Internet, Spectrum TV and Spectrum Voice, while Spectrum Mobile provides wireless service through arrangements with national wireless carriers.