Optimum Communications, Inc. (NYSE:OPTU) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Optimum Communications, Inc. (NYSE:OPTU) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the nine analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $0.95.

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial cut Optimum Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Optimum Communications from $2.00 to $1.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Optimum Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Zacks Research raised Optimum Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $1.00 target price on Optimum Communications in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Michael Olsen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.59, for a total value of $31,800.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 1,199,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,907,651.79. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $80,000 over the last three months. 44.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Optimum Communications

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OPTU. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter worth $46,002,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter worth $41,297,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter worth $27,135,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter worth $24,478,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Optimum Communications by 11.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,803,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,217,000 after acquiring an additional 879,589 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

Optimum Communications Stock Performance

NYSE OPTU opened at $1.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.49. Optimum Communications has a twelve month low of $0.58 and a twelve month high of $2.98. The stock has a market cap of $519.35 million, a PE ratio of -0.11 and a beta of 1.36.

About Optimum Communications

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.