Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) Downgraded to "Strong Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Shenandoah Telecommunications has been downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating significant concerns about the company's performance.
• Despite the downgrade, BWS Financial maintains a "buy" rating with a target price of $26.00 for the stock, suggesting differing perspectives among analysts.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed a loss of ($0.19) per share, which beat analysts' expectations but reflected negative financial metrics, including a negative return on equity and a net margin.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

Separately, BWS Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Price Performance

Shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.98. The stock had a trading volume of 200,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,346. The firm has a market cap of $712.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.20 and a beta of 0.90. Shenandoah Telecommunications has a 12 month low of $9.77 and a 12 month high of $16.89. The business's 50-day moving average is $14.09 and its 200 day moving average is $12.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $88.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.94 million. Shenandoah Telecommunications had a negative net margin of 8.90% and a negative return on equity of 3.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Shenandoah Telecommunications will post -0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Shenandoah Telecommunications news, major shareholder Ecp Fiber Holdings Gp, Llc acquired 32,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.46 per share, for a total transaction of $398,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,532,697 shares in the company, valued at $31,557,404.62. This represents a 1.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ecp Controlco, Llc acquired 36,238 shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.58 per share, for a total transaction of $455,874.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,599,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,698,866.92. This trade represents a 1.41% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 798,116 shares of company stock valued at $10,906,944 in the last ninety days. 4.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Shenandoah Telecommunications

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,248,255 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $17,053,000 after acquiring an additional 93,340 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Shenandoah Telecommunications by 51.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 739,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,102,000 after purchasing an additional 250,901 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Shenandoah Telecommunications by 3.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 544,258 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,841,000 after purchasing an additional 19,130 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Shenandoah Telecommunications by 27.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 532,984 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,700,000 after purchasing an additional 116,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Shenandoah Telecommunications by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 523,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,607,000 after buying an additional 6,904 shares during the period. 61.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Shenandoah Telecommunications

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of broadband communication services and cell tower colocation space in the Mid-Atlantic portion of the United States. It operates in two segments, Broadband and Tower. The company Broadband segment offers broadband, video, and voice services to residential and commercial customers in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky through hybrid fiber coaxial cable under the Shentel brand; and fiber optic services under the Glo Fiber brand name.