EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Hits New 52-Week High on Earnings Beat

EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $30.58 and last traded at $30.50, with a volume of 1020893 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.01.

The communications equipment provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.63) by $1.87. EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 0.64% and a negative net margin of 15.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SATS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on EchoStar in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $15.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EchoStar

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in EchoStar by 251.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in EchoStar by 8,906.7% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in EchoStar by 189.1% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,796 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 3,137 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in EchoStar by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,684 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,635 shares in the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EchoStar Trading Up 4.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.31 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.29.

About EchoStar

EchoStar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides networking technologies and services worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Pay-TV, Retail Wireless, 5G Network Deployment, Broadband and Satellite Services. The Pay-TV segment offers a direct broadcast and fixed satellite services; designs, develops, and distributes receiver system; and provides digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and, other services to third-party pay-TV providers; and multichannel, live-linear and on-demand streaming over-the-top internet-based domestic, international, Latino, and Freestream video programming services under the DISH and SLING brand names.