Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) Shares Down 7.8% – Time to Sell?

Optimum Communications, Inc. (NYSE:OPTU)’s share price traded down 7.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $1.47 and last traded at $1.4750. 1,101,590 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 2,337,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Optimum Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore set a $2.00 target price on Optimum Communications in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Optimum Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Benchmark downgraded Optimum Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Optimum Communications from $1.90 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $1.88.

Optimum Communications Trading Down 5.9%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.71. The stock has a market cap of $708.04 million, a P/E ratio of -0.38 and a beta of 1.56.

Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.14). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Optimum Communications, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Optimum Communications

In other Optimum Communications news, General Counsel Michael Olsen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.29, for a total value of $25,800.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 1,219,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,573,517.49. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 290,000 shares of company stock valued at $453,800. Insiders own 44.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Optimum Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OPTU. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Optimum Communications by 365.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,171,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,908 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Optimum Communications by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 806,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 36,260 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Optimum Communications by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 5,516,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,673,000 after purchasing an additional 524,169 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Optimum Communications by 46.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,397,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,031,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Optimum Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $88,000. Institutional investors own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

Optimum Communications 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 approximately five million 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.