Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Quarterly miss and weak profitability: Shenandoah reported ($0.31) EPS versus a ($0.24) consensus, has negative return on equity and net margin, and analysts forecast about ‑0.86 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Mixed analyst views but consensus Hold: Two analysts rate the stock Buy and one rates it Sell, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Hold" with a consensus target price of $27.50 (individual targets include $29 and $26).
• Significant institutional ownership and recent buying: Institutions own ~61.96% of the shares, with notable stake increases by Cooper Investors and Gabelli in Q4; the stock trades in the ~$14–$15 range with a market cap near $895 million and active daily volume.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Co (NASDAQ:SHEN - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 202,526 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the previous session's volume of 287,141 shares.The stock last traded at $14.2460 and had previously closed at $15.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SHEN. Wall Street Zen upgraded Shenandoah Telecommunications from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Craig Hallum began coverage on Shenandoah Telecommunications in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BWS Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy 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 a consensus target price of $27.50.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Stock Up 2.9%

The stock has a market cap of $895.01 million, a PE ratio of -23.79 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.07). Shenandoah Telecommunications had a negative return on equity of 4.01% and a negative net margin of 10.04%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Shenandoah Telecommunications Co will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Shenandoah Telecommunications

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. now owns 950,951 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,993,000 after acquiring an additional 425,582 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 324.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,477 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 198,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,295,000 after acquiring an additional 47,100 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications during the 4th quarter worth about $148,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,688 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.96% of the company's stock.

About Shenandoah Telecommunications

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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