First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 60,248 Shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN - Free Report) by 59.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,825 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 60,248 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.30% of Shenandoah Telecommunications worth $2,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,529,847 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,731,000 after acquiring an additional 68,133 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,012,685 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,770,000 after acquiring an additional 140,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 454,540 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,732,000 after acquiring an additional 34,740 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 433,218 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,463,000 after acquiring an additional 48,233 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 239,856 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,025,000 after acquiring an additional 96,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.96% of the company's stock.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Price Performance

SHEN stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $11.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 199,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 241,673. Shenandoah Telecommunications has a 12 month low of $9.77 and a 12 month high of $21.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $653.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.46.

Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.05). Shenandoah Telecommunications had a negative return on equity of 2.50% and a net margin of 58.03%. The business had revenue of $87.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.07) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Shenandoah Telecommunications will post -0.49 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SHEN. BWS Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Shenandoah Telecommunications to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Profile

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of broadband communication services and cell tower colocation space in the Mid-Atlantic portion of the United States. It operates in two segments, Broadband and Tower. The company Broadband segment offers broadband, video, and voice services to residential and commercial customers in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky through hybrid fiber coaxial cable under the Shentel brand; and fiber optic services under the Glo Fiber brand name.