Staley Capital Advisers Inc. Raises Stock Position in CommScope Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:COMM)

Key Points

• Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its stake in CommScope Holding Company by 17.5% in the first quarter, now owning 671,200 shares valued at approximately $3.56 million.
• Analysts are optimistic about CommScope, with firms like Northland Capital and Bank of America upgrading their ratings and target prices, suggesting a potential average price target of $14.75.
• CommScope reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $0.44 and revenues of $1.39 billion, exceeding analyst estimates and reflecting a 31.7% year-over-year growth.

Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its stake in CommScope Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:COMM - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 671,200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of CommScope worth $3,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in CommScope by 826.0% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,760 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 6,030 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in CommScope by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,986 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 4,026 shares during the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS acquired a new stake in CommScope during the 1st quarter worth $57,000. Covestor Ltd acquired a new stake in CommScope during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new position in shares of CommScope during the 1st quarter valued at about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.04% of the company's stock.

CommScope Trading Up 2.6%

NASDAQ COMM traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.46. The company had a trading volume of 6,012,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,079,309. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.78 and a 200 day moving average of $6.29. CommScope Holding Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2.94 and a 1-year high of $15.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 2.38.

CommScope (NASDAQ:COMM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.20. CommScope had a net margin of 16.61% and a negative return on equity of 6.29%. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. CommScope's revenue for the quarter was up 31.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CommScope Holding Company, Inc. will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COMM. Bank of America raised shares of CommScope from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $4.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. 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 report on Tuesday, August 5th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price target on shares of CommScope in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Northland Capmk raised shares of CommScope from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of CommScope from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $4.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $14.75.

CommScope 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.