Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) Price Target Lowered to $302.00 at New Street Research

Key Points

• New Street Research lowered Charter Communications’ price target from $328 to $302, while keeping a buy rating on the stock.
• The analyst view remains mixed overall: several firms recently cut their targets or reiterated cautious ratings, and MarketBeat shows an average rating of “Reduce” with a $290.38 average price target.
• Charter’s latest quarterly results showed EPS missed expectations at $9.17 versus $10.01, even though revenue came in slightly above estimates at $13.60 billion.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by research analysts at New Street Research from $328.00 to $302.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. New Street Research's price objective indicates a potential upside of 109.19% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CHTR. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of Charter Communications from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Charter Communications from $455.00 to $435.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Charter Communications in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Charter Communications from $250.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Charter Communications from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $290.38.

Charter Communications Trading Up 1.3%

CHTR stock traded up $1.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $144.37. 584,950 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,403,680. Charter Communications has a 52-week low of $136.63 and a 52-week high of $424.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $201.26 and a 200-day moving average of $208.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.76.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $9.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $10.01 by ($0.84). Charter Communications had a return on equity of 24.20% and a net margin of 9.03%.The company had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.42 EPS. Charter Communications's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Charter Communications will post 43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Charter Communications

In related news, CEO Christopher L. Winfrey purchased 3,468 shares of Charter Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $172.23 per share, with a total value of $597,293.64. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 74,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,815,462.07. This represents a 4.89% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Wade Davis acquired 5,728 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $173.72 per share, with a total value of $995,068.16. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,925 shares in the company, valued at $1,203,011. This represents a 478.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have bought 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $3,167,116. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Charter Communications

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CHTR. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Charter Communications by 304.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,815,422 shares of the company's stock worth $1,005,222,000 after purchasing an additional 3,626,135 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of Charter Communications by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 14,609,220 shares of the company's stock worth $3,049,675,000 after buying an additional 2,801,671 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Charter Communications during the 4th quarter worth $555,383,000. Voyager Global Management LP increased its stake in shares of Charter Communications by 1,380.0% during the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 1,850,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $386,188,000 after buying an additional 1,725,000 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Charter Communications by 119.6% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,969,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $619,885,000 after buying an additional 1,617,148 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.76% of the company's stock.

About Charter Communications

Charter Communications, Inc is a U.S.-based telecommunications and mass media company that provides broadband communications and video services to residential and business customers. Operating primarily under the Spectrum brand, the company offers high-speed internet, cable television, digital voice (phone) and wireless services, as well as managed and enterprise networking solutions for commercial customers. Charter's service portfolio targets both consumer and business markets with bundled and standalone offerings designed to meet streaming, connectivity and communications needs.

The company's consumer-facing products include Spectrum Internet, Spectrum TV and Spectrum Voice, while Spectrum Mobile provides wireless service through arrangements with national wireless carriers.

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