Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ:STRZ) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ:STRZ) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on STRZ. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Starz Entertainment in a report on Monday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 target price on shares of Starz Entertainment in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Starz Entertainment in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on Starz Entertainment in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Starz Entertainment from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $36.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Starz Entertainment presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.71.

Starz Entertainment Price Performance

Shares of STRZ opened at $22.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $378.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.91 and a beta of 2.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.55. Starz Entertainment has a fifty-two week low of $8.40 and a fifty-two week high of $32.58.

Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ:STRZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported ($2.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.63) by ($0.39). Starz Entertainment had a negative net margin of 32.52% and a negative return on equity of 34.04%. The business had revenue of $322.40 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Starz Entertainment will post -6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Starz Entertainment

In other news, major shareholder Allen Family Capital, Llc sold 363,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.06, for a total value of $7,661,333.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 1,803,786 shares of company stock worth $44,912,698 in the last three months. Insiders own 22.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Starz Entertainment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STRZ. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Starz Entertainment in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Starz Entertainment in the 3rd quarter worth $184,000. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in Starz Entertainment during the first quarter valued at about $190,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Starz Entertainment in the second quarter valued at $196,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Starz Entertainment during the second quarter worth $342,000.

Trending Headlines about Starz Entertainment

Here are the key news stories impacting Starz Entertainment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue reached approximately $322.4 million, ahead of expectations, while total and OTT revenue increased both sequentially and year over year. Adjusted OIBDA more than doubled from the prior year. Starz Entertainment third-quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Digital streaming revenue reached $227 million, and over-the-top bundling increased customer retention by more than 20%. These figures support management’s shift toward streaming and could improve the company’s long-term revenue quality. Starz: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded Starz Entertainment to “strong buy” from “outperform” and assigned a $36 price target. The target implies substantial potential upside from recent trading levels and adds support to the bullish case. Raymond James analyst upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Management reaffirmed its 2026 and 2027 targets, including OTT revenue growth, leverage reduction, adjusted OIBDA growth, unlevered free cash flow and a 20% adjusted OIBDA margin in the second half of 2027. Achieving those goals will depend on continued execution in a competitive streaming market.
• Negative Sentiment: Starz reported a quarterly loss of $2.02 per share, while Zacks cited a $2.14 loss, missing consensus estimates of $1.63 and $1.33, respectively. Although the loss narrowed from $2.63 a year earlier, the earnings miss may pressure the stock and highlights continuing profitability challenges. Starz third-quarter loss
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder Allen Family Capital disclosed a series of stock sales during August and September, collectively reducing its position by a substantial amount. The selling may weigh on sentiment, even though the transactions occurred before the latest earnings release. SEC ownership filing

About Starz Entertainment

Starz Entertainment Corp. is a media and entertainment company that operates premium subscription television and streaming services. Its offerings include the STARZ premium network, related linear television channels and the STARZ streaming platform, which provides original series, feature films and licensed entertainment content.

The company’s programming has included original dramas, comedies and franchises, as well as a selection of theatrical and television movies. STARZ content is distributed through traditional pay-TV providers, digital platforms and direct-to-consumer subscriptions, with availability varying by market and distribution partner.

Starz was established in 1994 as a premium television service and was acquired by Lionsgate in 2016.