Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ:STRZ) Upgraded to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ:STRZ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on STRZ. Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 target price on shares of Starz Entertainment in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Starz Entertainment in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Starz Entertainment from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Starz Entertainment in a report on Monday, September 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of Starz Entertainment in a report on Monday, September 14th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Starz Entertainment has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.71.

Starz Entertainment Stock Performance

Shares of STRZ stock opened at $22.09 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.72 and a 200 day moving average of $20.55. Starz Entertainment has a 52 week low of $8.40 and a 52 week high of $32.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $378.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.91 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ:STRZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported ($2.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.63) by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $322.40 million during the quarter. Starz Entertainment had a negative net margin of 32.52% and a negative return on equity of 30.57%. As a group, research analysts expect that Starz Entertainment will post -6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Starz Entertainment news, major shareholder Allen Family Capital, Llc sold 363,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.06, for a total transaction of $7,661,333.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,803,786 shares of company stock valued at $44,912,698. 22.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Starz Entertainment in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,599,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Starz Entertainment in the 2nd quarter worth about $13,911,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Starz Entertainment during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,826,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Starz Entertainment during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,018,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Starz Entertainment during the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,027,000.

Key Starz Entertainment News

Here are the key news stories impacting Starz Entertainment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue reached approximately $322.4 million, ahead of expectations, while total and OTT revenue increased both sequentially and year over year. Adjusted OIBDA more than doubled from the prior year. Starz Entertainment third-quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Digital streaming revenue reached $227 million, and over-the-top bundling increased customer retention by more than 20%. These figures support management’s shift toward streaming and could improve the company’s long-term revenue quality. Starz: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded Starz Entertainment to “strong buy” from “outperform” and assigned a $36 price target. The target implies substantial potential upside from recent trading levels and adds support to the bullish case. Raymond James analyst upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Management reaffirmed its 2026 and 2027 targets, including OTT revenue growth, leverage reduction, adjusted OIBDA growth, unlevered free cash flow and a 20% adjusted OIBDA margin in the second half of 2027. Achieving those goals will depend on continued execution in a competitive streaming market.
• Negative Sentiment: Starz reported a quarterly loss of $2.02 per share, while Zacks cited a $2.14 loss, missing consensus estimates of $1.63 and $1.33, respectively. Although the loss narrowed from $2.63 a year earlier, the earnings miss may pressure the stock and highlights continuing profitability challenges. Starz third-quarter loss
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder Allen Family Capital disclosed a series of stock sales during August and September, collectively reducing its position by a substantial amount. The selling may weigh on sentiment, even though the transactions occurred before the latest earnings release. SEC ownership filing

Starz Entertainment Company Profile

Starz Entertainment Corp. is a media and entertainment company that operates premium subscription television and streaming services. Its offerings include the STARZ premium network, related linear television channels and the STARZ streaming platform, which provides original series, feature films and licensed entertainment content.

The company’s programming has included original dramas, comedies and franchises, as well as a selection of theatrical and television movies. STARZ content is distributed through traditional pay-TV providers, digital platforms and direct-to-consumer subscriptions, with availability varying by market and distribution partner.

Starz was established in 1994 as a premium television service and was acquired by Lionsgate in 2016.