ADT (NYSE:ADT) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

ADT (NYSE:ADT) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ADT. Weiss Ratings raised ADT from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of ADT in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of ADT from $7.75 to $7.25 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of ADT from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $10.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.73.

ADT Price Performance

NYSE:ADT opened at $9.91 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. ADT has a 12-month low of $6.03 and a 12-month high of $9.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $7.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 0.95.

ADT (NYSE:ADT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The security and automation business reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. ADT had a net margin of 11.85% and a return on equity of 18.57%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. ADT’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that ADT will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of ADT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ADT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of ADT by 151.4% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,957 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,985 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of ADT by 1,646.1% in the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,094 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 5,745 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of ADT by 154.0% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,451 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 4,518 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of ADT by 129.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,709 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 4,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of ADT during the third quarter valued at about $61,000. 87.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ADT

ADT Inc. provides professionally monitored security, automation and smart-home services to residential customers and businesses in the United States. Its offerings include intrusion detection, video surveillance, fire and life-safety systems, and remote monitoring and control through connected devices and mobile apps. The company also serves commercial customers with security solutions such as access control, video surveillance and fire protection. ADT provides installation, maintenance and monitoring services, with offerings tailored to homes, small businesses and larger organizations.