Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Upgraded by Zacks Research to "Hold" Rating

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Liberty Global's stock rating to "hold," indicating a more cautious outlook for investors.
• Barclays, Benchmark, UBS Group, and Citigroup have all set varying price targets and ratings for Liberty Global, with a consensus target of $14.26.
• The company recently reported an earnings miss with a significant loss of ($8.09) EPS, despite exceeding revenue estimates of $1.27 billion.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Zacks Research to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Wednesday, September 3rd,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on LBTYA. Berenberg Bank raised Liberty Global to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Liberty Global from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays set a $11.00 price objective on Liberty Global and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $21.00 price objective (up from $18.00) on shares of Liberty Global in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Liberty Global from $10.60 to $11.80 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.26.

Liberty Global Stock Down 0.2%

LBTYA traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $11.54. The company had a trading volume of 512,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,066,800. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.59. Liberty Global has a 12-month low of $9.02 and a 12-month high of $21.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.18 and a beta of 1.17.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported ($8.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.55) by ($7.54). The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Liberty Global had a negative return on equity of 22.64% and a negative net margin of 60.38%. Analysts predict that Liberty Global will post -1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Global

In other news, CFO Charles H. R. Bracken sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.31, for a total transaction of $678,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 33,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $375,718.20. This trade represents a 64.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Miranda Curtis sold 42,600 shares of Liberty Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.77, for a total value of $501,402.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 129,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,919.85. This trade represents a 24.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 136,980 shares of company stock valued at $1,577,091. Corporate insiders own 11.51% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Global by 81.5% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Global by 4.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Global by 79.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Global by 1.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 152,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,999 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Global by 11.8% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,163 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.20% of the company's stock.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony, and mobile communications services to residential and business customers. It offers value-added broadband services, such as WiFi features, security, anti-virus, firewall, spam protection, smart home services, online storage solutions, and web spaces; and Connect Box that delivers in-home Wi-Fi service.