Liberty Broadband Co. (NASDAQ:LBRDK) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Liberty Broadband Co. (NASDAQ:LBRDK) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,120,000 shares, a growth of 46.6% from the February 13th total of 2,810,000 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 901,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Liberty Broadband Stock Performance

Shares of LBRDK traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $82.31. 666,473 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,013,501. Liberty Broadband has a 1-year low of $46.46 and a 1-year high of $101.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $79.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.73.

Liberty Broadband (NASDAQ:LBRDK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.67 by ($1.63). The company had revenue of $253.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $252.50 million. Liberty Broadband had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 78.07%. Equities research analysts predict that Liberty Broadband will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gregory B. Maffei sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.74, for a total value of $9,967,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,435,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,447,313.44. This trade represents a 8.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Broadband

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LBRDK. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Liberty Broadband by 125.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,060,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,776,000 after acquiring an additional 1,703,637 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Broadband during the 4th quarter worth about $122,714,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Liberty Broadband during the 4th quarter worth about $100,845,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in Liberty Broadband by 425.3% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,231,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,040,000 after buying an additional 996,764 shares during the period. Finally, Pentwater Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Liberty Broadband by 454.0% during the 4th quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 1,108,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,834,000 after buying an additional 908,000 shares during the period. 80.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Liberty Broadband in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

Liberty Broadband Company Profile

Liberty Broadband Corporation engages in the communications businesses. The company's GCI Holdings segment provides data, wireless, video, voice, and managed services to residential customers, businesses, governmental entities, educational, and medical institutions in Alaska under the GCI brand.