Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Stock Falls 5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Liberty Global shares fell 5% to about $8.49 in Friday trading, with volume below the stock’s average session level.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Barclays and UBS lowered their price targets, while the consensus rating is “Hold” with an average target of $13.22.
• The company’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, reporting a loss of $1.07 per share versus the expected $0.48 loss and revenue of $1.17 billion versus the $1.34 billion estimate.

Liberty Global Ltd (NASDAQ:LBTYA - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 5% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $8.52 and last traded at $8.4850. 1,528,583 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 2,467,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on LBTYA shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Liberty Global in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Liberty Global from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Liberty Global from $12.10 to $11.90 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $13.22.

Liberty Global Stock Down 6.2%

The business's fifty day moving average is $10.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.93 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported ($1.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.59). The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Liberty Global had a negative return on equity of 28.83% and a negative net margin of 62.12%. Equities analysts forecast that Liberty Global Ltd will post -1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Global

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC lifted its stake in Liberty Global by 9.7% in the first quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 23,644,817 shares of the company's stock worth $285,866,000 after acquiring an additional 2,097,847 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Liberty Global by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 11,752,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $142,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734,423 shares in the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Liberty Global by 501.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,080,073 shares of the company's stock worth $12,032,000 after purchasing an additional 900,419 shares during the last quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Liberty Global by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 5,183,133 shares of the company's stock worth $57,740,000 after purchasing an additional 857,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Troluce Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Global during the first quarter worth $9,759,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 37.20% of the company's stock.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global plc is an international telecommunications and media company that invests in and operates broadband, mobile, fixed-line voice and television businesses. Its services generally include high-speed internet, wireless connectivity, digital television, streaming and related communications products for residential and business customers.

The company has operations and strategic interests across Europe. Its portfolio includes Sunrise in Switzerland and Telenet in Belgium, while Liberty Global also holds significant joint-venture interests in Virgin Media O2 in the United Kingdom and VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands.

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