Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $2.59, but opened at $2.45. Altice USA shares last traded at $2.53, with a volume of 596,558 shares changing hands.

The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.13). Altice USA had a negative net margin of 0.62% and a negative return on equity of 1.54%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. Altice USA’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, UBS Group lowered Altice USA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $4.00 to $2.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altice USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1.97.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altice USA

In other Altice USA news, Director Alt S.A.R.L. Next sold 805,227 shares of Altice USA stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.50, for a total transaction of $19,728,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,055,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $932,366,389.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,220,908 shares of company stock worth $78,912,246. Company insiders own 52.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altice USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Altice USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $157,000. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Altice USA by 30.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altice USA in the third quarter worth about $74,000. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Altice USA by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 57,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 22,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Altice USA by 102.2% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

Altice USA Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.12.

Altice USA Company Profile

Altice USA, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband communications and video services in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It offers broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to residential and business customers. The company's video services include delivery of broadcast stations and cable networks; over the top services; video-on-demand, high-definition channels, digital video recorder, and pay-per-view services; and platforms for video programming through mobile applications.