Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by analysts, with five hold ratings and four buy recommendations.
• Recent earnings showed Viasat exceeded analysts' expectations with $0.17 EPS for the quarter, while revenue increased by 4% year-over-year.
• PNC Financial Services Group significantly increased its stake in Viasat by 233.4% in the first quarter, highlighting growing institutional interest in the stock.

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.1250.

VSAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. B. Riley reduced their target price on Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viasat during the second quarter worth $45,000. Caxton Associates LLP lifted its holdings in Viasat by 47.4% during the second quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 322,292 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $4,705,000 after acquiring an additional 103,680 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Viasat by 5.8% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 290,197 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 15,947 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Viasat by 323.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,157 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 9,289 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Viasat during the second quarter valued at $201,000. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viasat Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Viasat stock traded down $0.20 on Tuesday, reaching $32.33. 2,951,655 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,419,050. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.00 and a beta of 1.20. Viasat has a 52 week low of $6.69 and a 52 week high of $33.85. The firm's 50-day moving average is $19.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.11.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 6.37% and a negative net margin of 13.11%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide. The company's Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services, including broadband internet access and voice over internet protocol services to consumers and businesses; in-flight entertainment and aviation software services to commercial airlines and private business jets; satellite-based connectivity services; mobile broadband services, including satellite-based internet services to energy offshore vessels, cruise ships, consumer ferries, and yachts; and energy services, which include ultra-secure solutions IP connectivity, bandwidth-optimized over-the-top applications, industrial internet-of-things big data enablement, and industry-leading machine learning analytics.