Scotiabank Issues Pessimistic Forecast for AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price

Key Points

• Scotiabank has lowered its price target for AST SpaceMobile from $45.40 to $42.90, indicating a potential downside of 10.19% from the stock's current price.
• Despite the downgrade from Scotiabank, two other brokerages have issued "buy" ratings with price targets of $44.00 and $42.00, showing mixed sentiments about the stock's outlook.
• The company reported earnings per share of ($0.20) for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations and reflecting a challenging financial situation.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $45.40 to $42.90 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "sector perform" rating on the stock. Scotiabank's target price would indicate a potential downside of 8.00% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ASTS. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Roth Capital initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.99.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

ASTS traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $46.63. The stock had a trading volume of 7,155,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,908,155. The company has a market cap of $14.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.43 and a beta of 2.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.33 and a 200 day moving average of $32.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a current ratio of 10.62. AST SpaceMobile has a 1 year low of $17.50 and a 1 year high of $60.95.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 23.56% and a negative net margin of 7,033.22%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $541,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 315,667 shares in the company, valued at $11,389,265.36. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total value of $1,782,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 545,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,450,461.75. This trade represents a 8.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 184,250 shares of company stock worth $6,146,750 over the last quarter. 34.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter worth $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides access to a space-based cellular broadband network for smartphones in the United States. Its SpaceMobile service provides cellular broadband services to end-users who are out of terrestrial cellular coverage. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.