Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Charter Communications has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with three sell recommendations, eight hold ratings, and eight buy ratings, alongside an average price target of $410.59.
• Recent insider transactions include Director Balan Nair and CEO Christopher L. Winfrey buying shares at average prices of $274.21 and $273.10, respectively, indicating growing confidence by company leadership.
• Charter's latest earnings report revealed a missed EPS estimate of $9.18 compared to the $10.06 expected, although revenue was slightly above expectations at $13.77 billion.

Shares of Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $410.5882.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CHTR shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Charter Communications from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Charter Communications from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Charter Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $430.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Charter Communications from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $380.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Charter Communications from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Balan Nair bought 360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $274.21 per share, with a total value of $98,715.60. Following the purchase, the director owned 9,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,638,448.62. The trade was a 3.89% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher L. Winfrey purchased 3,670 shares of Charter Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $273.10 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,277.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 70,243 shares in the company, valued at $19,183,363.30. The trade was a 5.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charter Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHTR. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Charter Communications by 0.8% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,128 shares of the company's stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Charter Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 283 shares of the company's stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Charter Communications by 24.3% in the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 143 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Charter Communications by 2.3% during the second quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,260 shares of the company's stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Charter Communications by 1.1% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 81.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Charter Communications Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of CHTR traded down $2.21 on Thursday, reaching $256.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,782,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,646,453. Charter Communications has a twelve month low of $256.03 and a twelve month high of $437.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.03, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $368.33 and a 200-day moving average of $368.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.57.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $9.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $10.06 by ($0.88). Charter Communications had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 26.77%. The company had revenue of $13.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Charter Communications will post 38.16 EPS for the current year.

About Charter Communications

Charter Communications, Inc operates as a broadband connectivity and cable operator company serving residential and commercial customers in the United States. The company offers subscription-based internet, video, and mobile and voice services; a suite of broadband connectivity services, including fixed internet, WiFi, and mobile; Advanced WiFi services; Spectrum Security Shield; in-home WiFi, which provides customers with high performance wireless routers and managed WiFi services to enhance their fixed wireless internet experience; out-of-home WiFi; and Spectrum WiFi services.