Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.59 EPS

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) released its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The company reported ($1.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.59), FiscalAI reports. Liberty Global had a negative net margin of 109.64% and a negative return on equity of 47.65%.

Liberty Global Price Performance

Shares of LBTYA stock traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,799,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,337,269. Liberty Global has a 12-month low of $9.54 and a 12-month high of $13.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.60 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.43 and a 200-day moving average of $11.66.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Liberty Global news, Director J David Wargo sold 55,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.54, for a total value of $634,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 53,876 shares in the company, valued at $621,729.04. This represents a 50.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LBTYA. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Liberty Global by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,423,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,751,520 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Liberty Global by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 10,018,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,605,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,065 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Liberty Global by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,310,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,581,000 after purchasing an additional 200,348 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liberty Global by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,365,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,566,000 after buying an additional 39,179 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liberty Global by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,125,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,824,000 after buying an additional 162,561 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LBTYA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Pivotal Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Liberty Global in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Liberty Global from $12.60 to $12.10 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research raised Liberty Global from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Liberty Global from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.02.

Liberty Global Company Profile

Liberty Global plc operates as a leading international telecommunications and television company, offering a wide array of broadband internet, digital cable television, fixed-line telephony and mobile services. Through its extensive fiber and hybrid-fiber coaxial networks, the company delivers high-speed internet connectivity, video on demand and interactive television platforms to residential and business customers. Its service portfolio includes digital voice, managed Wi-Fi solutions, home security and converged connectivity bundles designed to meet evolving consumer and enterprise demands.

The company’s footprint spans key European markets, including the United Kingdom and Ireland under the Virgin Media brand, the Netherlands through Ziggo, Belgium via Telenet, and operations in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland and Luxembourg.