EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• EchoStar has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by Zacks Research, reflecting increased investor confidence in the company's stock.
• Citigroup also upgraded its rating on EchoStar from "hold" to "strong-buy," while analysts have set a consensus price target of $75.20 for the stock.
• Despite a challenging earnings report showing a decline in revenue, institutional investors have notably increased their stakes in EchoStar, with some raising their positions by as much as 70,980%.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup upgraded EchoStar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen increased their target price on EchoStar from $28.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on EchoStar from $59.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.20.

EchoStar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SATS opened at $75.05 on Monday. EchoStar has a one year low of $14.90 and a one year high of $85.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.59 and a 200-day moving average of $36.47. The company has a market capitalization of $21.59 billion, a PE ratio of -71.48 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.22.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 2.04%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.76) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that EchoStar will post -1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at EchoStar

In other EchoStar news, COO Paul Gaske sold 750 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.32, for a total transaction of $58,740.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 154,835 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,078.40. This trade represents a 99.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 460,740 shares of company stock valued at $35,967,480 in the last ninety days. 55.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SATS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of EchoStar by 8,125.0% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 987 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in EchoStar by 44.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,841 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in EchoStar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $73,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in EchoStar by 39.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,441 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in EchoStar by 70,980.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,554 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 3,549 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.62% of the company's stock.

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.

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