EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) has received an average broker recommendation of "Hold", with four analysts rating it as hold and three as buy, and an average 12-month target price of $75.20.
• Insider activity has seen significant stock sales, with COO Paul Gaske and COO John Swieringa selling a combined total of over 199,000 shares, reflecting a substantial decrease in their ownership stakes.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a loss of ($1.06) EPS and a revenue decline of 5.8% year-over-year, falling short of analyst expectations.

Shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $75.20.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SATS shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of EchoStar from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of EchoStar from $59.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of EchoStar from $28.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $105.00 price objective on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In related news, COO Paul Gaske sold 45,000 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.25, for a total value of $3,611,250.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,593 shares in the company, valued at $127,838.25. The trade was a 96.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 154,835 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.20, for a total transaction of $12,572,602.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,078.40. This trade represents a 99.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 460,740 shares of company stock valued at $35,967,480 in the last ninety days. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EchoStar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in EchoStar by 11.5% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,594 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $875,000 after buying an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Marex Group plc purchased a new position in EchoStar during the second quarter valued at $947,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in EchoStar by 5.4% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 103,871 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,878,000 after buying an additional 5,339 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of EchoStar by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 14,815 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of EchoStar by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 14,839 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company's stock.

EchoStar Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of EchoStar stock opened at $73.45 on Friday. EchoStar has a 12-month low of $14.90 and a 12-month high of $85.37. The company has a market cap of $21.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.95 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company's 50-day moving average price is $48.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.27.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.06. EchoStar had a negative net margin of 2.04% and a negative return on equity of 1.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.76) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that EchoStar will post -1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EchoStar Company Profile

EchoStar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides networking technologies and services worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Pay-TV, Retail Wireless, 5G Network Deployment, Broadband and Satellite Services. The Pay-TV segment offers a direct broadcast and fixed satellite services; designs, develops, and distributes receiver system; and provides digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and, other services to third-party pay-TV providers; and multichannel, live-linear and on-demand streaming over-the-top internet-based domestic, international, Latino, and Freestream video programming services under the DISH and SLING brand names.

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