Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA - Free Report) in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $33.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on LBTYA. Bank of America downgraded Liberty Global from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Liberty Global from $23.00 to $22.50 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. New Street Research reaffirmed a neutral rating on shares of Liberty Global in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. HSBC downgraded Liberty Global from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Liberty Global from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Global currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $24.75.

Liberty Global Trading Up 2.3 %

LBTYA traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $16.64. 2,925,526 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,605,006. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.77 and a beta of 1.16. Liberty Global has a 1-year low of $15.01 and a 1-year high of $20.56. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $16.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter. Liberty Global had a negative return on equity of 19.26% and a negative net margin of 54.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.59) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Liberty Global will post -0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Global news, Director J David Wargo sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.35, for a total transaction of $520,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 159,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,769,615.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Liberty Global news, Director J David Wargo sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.35, for a total transaction of $520,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 159,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,769,615.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea Salvato sold 32,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.70, for a total value of $573,533.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,462.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,629 shares of company stock worth $2,046,783 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.51% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Liberty Global by 148.1% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Global during the fourth quarter valued at about $106,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Liberty Global during the fourth quarter valued at about $141,000. Tevis Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Global in the first quarter worth about $180,000. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Global in the third quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors own 37.20% of the company's stock.

Liberty Global Company Profile

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.