Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on CommScope (NASDAQ:COMM)

Key Points

• CommScope experienced a significant increase in options trading, with 10,526 call options purchased on a recent Tuesday, marking a 41% rise from the usual daily volume.
• Bank of America has upgraded CommScope's rating from "underperform" to "buy" and raised the price target from $4.00 to $20.00, indicating growing investor confidence.
• CommScope reported a 31.7% increase in revenue year-over-year with quarterly earnings of $0.44 per share, surpassing analysts' estimates of $0.24.

CommScope Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:COMM - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 10,526 call options on the stock. Thisisanincreaseof41% compared to the average volume of 7,480 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COMM has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial raised shares of CommScope from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CommScope from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of CommScope in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Northland Capmk raised shares of CommScope from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of CommScope from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $4.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $14.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CommScope

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in CommScope by 8.2% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,050,618 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $53,369,000 after purchasing an additional 761,605 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in CommScope by 244.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,498,510 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $50,437,000 after purchasing an additional 6,743,929 shares during the last quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of CommScope during the first quarter valued at about $32,806,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of CommScope during the fourth quarter valued at about $14,328,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CommScope by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,705,120 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $14,094,000 after acquiring an additional 579,114 shares during the last quarter. 88.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CommScope Trading Up 1.4%

CommScope stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $15.61. 5,266,396 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,259,058. CommScope has a fifty-two week low of $2.94 and a fifty-two week high of $16.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.87, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 2.38. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $9.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.74.

CommScope (NASDAQ:COMM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.20. CommScope had a net margin of 16.61% and a negative return on equity of 6.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. CommScope's revenue was up 31.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that CommScope will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CommScope Company Profile

CommScope Holding Company, Inc provides infrastructure solutions for communications, data center, and entertainment networks worldwide. The company operates through Connectivity and Cable Solutions (CCS); Outdoor Wireless Networks (OWN); Networking, Intelligent Cellular and Security Solutions (NICS), and Access Network Solutions (ANS) segments.