Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LILAK) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Liberty Global from "hold" to "buy," while Weiss Ratings maintained a "sell (D-)" and MarketBeat's consensus remains a "Reduce" with a $8.20 target.
• Liberty Global reported EPS of -$0.27 (missing estimates) with revenue of $1.16B, and shows negative ROE and net margin plus a high debt-to-equity (6.78); the stock trades near $8.52 with a $1.70B market cap.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LILAK - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Liberty Global in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Global currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $8.20.

Liberty Global Price Performance

LILAK stock opened at $8.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.78 and a beta of 0.84. Liberty Global has a twelve month low of $4.23 and a twelve month high of $9.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.78.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LILAK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.37). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Liberty Global had a negative return on equity of 48.22% and a negative net margin of 13.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Global news, CAO Brian D. Zook sold 94,494 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.04, for a total value of $759,731.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $54,776.52. This represents a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 9.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LILAK. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Liberty Global during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Global in the third quarter valued at $50,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Global by 85.9% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 8,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,934 shares during the last quarter. Xponance LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Liberty Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $78,000. 52.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global plc is a leading international telecommunications and television company, offering video, broadband Internet, fixed-line and mobile services to residential and business customers. Headquartered in London and operating as an ADR on the NASDAQ under the ticker LILAK, the company focuses on developing advanced broadband networks and delivering entertainment and connectivity solutions across Europe.

The company's core products include high-speed cable broadband, digital and interactive television, fixed-line telephony, and mobile services.

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