Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo lowered Charter Communications’ price target from $170 to $160 and kept an underweight rating, signaling a cautious outlook despite implying upside from the current share price.
• Analyst sentiment on Charter remains weak overall: the stock has an average “Reduce” rating, with five Buy ratings, nine Holds, and six Sells across covering analysts.
• Charter recently reported earnings below expectations, posting $9.17 per share versus the $10.01 estimate, while revenue came in slightly above forecasts and was down 1% year over year.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $170.00 to $160.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "underweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target indicates a potential upside of 18.13% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CHTR. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Charter Communications in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Charter Communications to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Charter Communications in a report on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Charter Communications in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Charter Communications from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charter Communications has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $260.06.

Charter Communications Price Performance

Charter Communications stock opened at $135.44 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $145.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $16.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.71. Charter Communications has a 52 week low of $124.05 and a 52 week high of $422.29.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $9.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $10.01 by ($0.84). The business had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.56 billion. Charter Communications had a net margin of 9.03% and a return on equity of 24.20%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Charter Communications will post 42.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Charter Communications

In other news, Director Thomas Rutledge sold 18,200 shares of Charter Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.94, for a total transaction of $2,674,308.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,968 shares in the company, valued at $583,057.92. The trade was a 82.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Wade Davis acquired 5,728 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $173.72 per share, for a total transaction of $995,068.16. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,203,011. This trade represents a 478.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired 20,125 shares of company stock worth $3,167,116 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charter Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in Charter Communications by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 14,609,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,049,675,000 after buying an additional 2,801,671 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Charter Communications by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,248,287 shares of the company's stock worth $2,139,330,000 after buying an additional 885,935 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Charter Communications by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,961,695 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,190,302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475,383 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Charter Communications by 304.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,815,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,005,222,000 after acquiring an additional 3,626,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Charter Communications by 119.6% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,969,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $619,885,000 after acquiring an additional 1,617,148 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.76% of the company's stock.

Charter Communications Company Profile

Charter Communications, Inc is a U.S.-based telecommunications and mass media company that provides broadband communications and video services to residential and business customers. Operating primarily under the Spectrum brand, the company offers high-speed internet, cable television, digital voice (phone) and wireless services, as well as managed and enterprise networking solutions for commercial customers. Charter's service portfolio targets both consumer and business markets with bundled and standalone offerings designed to meet streaming, connectivity and communications needs.

The company's consumer-facing products include Spectrum Internet, Spectrum TV and Spectrum Voice, while Spectrum Mobile provides wireless service through arrangements with national wireless carriers.

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