Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Charter Communications from “strong sell” to “hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with five Buy, nine Hold and five Sell ratings and an average price target of $226.88.
• Charter shares opened at $153.17, well below their one-year high of $285.82. The company has high leverage, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.32, despite trading at a low P/E ratio of 3.98.
• Charter beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $10.66 in EPS versus the $9.98 consensus and $13.53 billion in revenue, although revenue declined 1.7% year over year. Institutional investors own 81.76% of the stock, while recent insider activity included both a director sale and purchase.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Charter Communications from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Charter Communications in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Charter Communications in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Freedom Capital upgraded Charter Communications to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Charter Communications from $235.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Charter Communications presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $226.88.

Charter Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHTR opened at $153.17 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $135.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.41. Charter Communications has a 1 year low of $111.55 and a 1 year high of $285.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a PE ratio of 3.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.70.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $10.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.98 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $13.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.51 billion. Charter Communications had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 23.71%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.18 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Charter Communications will post 42.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charter Communications news, Director Thomas Rutledge sold 18,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.94, for a total transaction of $2,674,308.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $583,057.92. This trade represents a 82.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mauricio Ramos bought 9,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $140.93 per share, with a total value of $1,399,293.97. Following the purchase, the director owned 19,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,721,217.37. This trade represents a 105.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charter Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dodge & Cox raised its position in Charter Communications by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 14,609,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,049,675,000 after purchasing an additional 2,801,671 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Charter Communications by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,248,287 shares of the company's stock worth $2,139,330,000 after buying an additional 885,935 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Charter Communications by 22.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,961,695 shares of the company's stock worth $2,190,302,000 after buying an additional 1,475,383 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Charter Communications by 304.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,815,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,005,222,000 after buying an additional 3,626,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Charter Communications by 119.6% in 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 in the last quarter. 81.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charter Communications Company Profile

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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