CommScope (NASDAQ:COMM) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shares of CommScope Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:COMM) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.61, but opened at $6.84. CommScope shares last traded at $6.41, with a volume of 2,143,523 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Morgan Stanley downgraded CommScope from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CommScope currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.50.

CommScope Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of -1.27 and a beta of 1.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.97.

CommScope (NASDAQ:COMM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.38). CommScope had a negative return on equity of 1.01% and a negative net margin of 18.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that CommScope Holding Company, Inc. will post -0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of CommScope

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COMM. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CommScope by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,111,866 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,239,000 after purchasing an additional 155,166 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in CommScope by 19.9% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 5,074,507 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,242,000 after acquiring an additional 840,742 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in CommScope by 9.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,588,286 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,034,000 after acquiring an additional 387,466 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of CommScope by 29.3% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,303,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $26,296,000 after purchasing an additional 975,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monarch Alternative Capital LP purchased a new stake in CommScope in the third quarter valued at approximately $16,623,000. 88.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CommScope Company Profile

CommScope Holding Company, Inc provides infrastructure solutions for communications, data center, and entertainment networks worldwide. The company operates through Connectivity and Cable Solutions (CCS); Outdoor Wireless Networks (OWN); Networking, Intelligent Cellular and Security Solutions (NICS), and Access Network Solutions (ANS) segments.