EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• EchoStar's stock reached a new 52-week high of $84.48 during trading, significantly rising from a previous close of $67.24.
• Wall Street analysts have issued positive forecasts for EchoStar, with TD Cowen increasing their target price from $28.00 to $67.00 and four firms giving it a "buy" rating.
• Despite a slight miss on quarterly revenue estimates, EchoStar reported earnings per share of ($1.06), beating the consensus estimate and indicating improving financial performance.

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $84.48 and last traded at $81.36, with a volume of 6595206 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $67.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SATS shares. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of EchoStar from $59.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $105.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of EchoStar from $28.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EchoStar presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.90.

EchoStar Trading Down 4.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $38.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.64. The company has a market capitalization of $22.99 billion, a PE ratio of -76.09 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at EchoStar

In other news, COO Paul Gaske sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.25, for a total transaction of $3,611,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,838.25. This represents a 96.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 55.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EchoStar

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SATS. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth about $244,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in EchoStar by 325.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 940,950 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $21,548,000 after buying an additional 719,685 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in EchoStar by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 701,120 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $16,056,000 after buying an additional 44,867 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in EchoStar by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 69,283 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,587,000 after buying an additional 2,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new position in EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About EchoStar

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.