Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) Shares Down 7.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shenandoah Telecommunications Co (NASDAQ:SHEN)’s share price fell 7.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $9.62 and last traded at $9.3140. 136,088 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 471,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SHEN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, BWS Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Trading Down 5.0%

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $11.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $527.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.24 and a beta of 0.76.

Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $93.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.10 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Shenandoah Telecommunications Co will post -0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 123.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This is an increase from Shenandoah Telecommunications’s previous annual dividend of $0.11. Shenandoah Telecommunications’s dividend payout ratio is currently -15.38%.

Insider Transactions at Shenandoah Telecommunications

In other news, CFO James Volk bought 4,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.67 per share, for a total transaction of $49,982.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 92,671 shares in the company, valued at $1,081,470.57. The trade was a 4.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Shenandoah Telecommunications

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Shenandoah Telecommunications in the second quarter valued at about $106,907,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in Shenandoah Telecommunications by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 270,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,163,000 after acquiring an additional 6,874 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Shenandoah Telecommunications in the second quarter valued at about $4,041,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,974,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 221,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,419,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.96% of the company’s stock.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company Profile

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, also known as Shentel, is a telecommunications provider headquartered in Edinburg, Virginia. The company delivers broadband communications services to residential and commercial customers, with a focus on high-speed internet, fiber-optic connectivity, video and voice services.

Shentel operates its Glo Fiber network in selected communities and provides broadband services through its legacy cable and fiber networks. Its service territory primarily includes markets in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.