Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) Coverage Initiated at Craig Hallum

Key Points

• Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Shenandoah Telecommunications with a buy rating and a $29 price target, implying about a 101.11% upside from the current share price.
• The analyst picture is mixed—two Buys and one Sell lead to a consensus Hold and a $27.50 target—while SHEN trades around $14.42 with a negative PE and margins, though it slightly beat EPS and revenue estimates last quarter.
• Institutional activity is significant: Millennium Management vastly increased its stake to roughly 1.09 million shares and about 61.96% of the stock is held by hedge funds and other institutions.

Analysts at Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $29.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Craig Hallum's target price points to a potential upside of 101.11% from the stock's current price.

SHEN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BWS Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.50.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Stock Performance

SHEN opened at $14.42 on Thursday. Shenandoah Telecommunications has a 12-month low of $9.66 and a 12-month high of $15.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $797.43 million, a PE ratio of -21.21 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.56.

Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $91.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.03 million. Shenandoah Telecommunications had a negative net margin of 10.04% and a negative return on equity of 4.01%. On average, analysts anticipate that Shenandoah Telecommunications will post -0.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shenandoah Telecommunications

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 1,116.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,087,246 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,569,000 after purchasing an additional 997,882 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. purchased a new position in Shenandoah Telecommunications during the third quarter worth approximately $7,050,000. ECP ControlCo LLC boosted its position in Shenandoah Telecommunications by 10.7% during the second quarter. ECP ControlCo LLC now owns 2,714,371 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,078,000 after purchasing an additional 261,987 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Shenandoah Telecommunications by 103.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 447,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,114,000 after purchasing an additional 227,789 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Shenandoah Telecommunications by 187.2% in the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 330,890 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,441,000 after purchasing an additional 215,668 shares during the period. 61.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company Profile

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company operates as a diversified communications provider offering both wireless and wireline services across rural markets in the Mid-Atlantic region. Headquartered in Edinburg, Virginia, the company designs, builds and maintains network infrastructure to deliver mobile connectivity, high-speed broadband access and related telecommunications solutions to residential, business and wholesale customers.

In its wireless segment, the company owns and operates a portfolio of cellular towers and associated spectrum under a long-term partnership with a national carrier.

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