Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $2.82, but opened at $2.97. Altice USA shares last traded at $2.86, with a volume of 439,511 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATUS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James raised Altice USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $3.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altice USA from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Altice USA from $6.00 to $3.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.41.

Altice USA Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $2.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.77 and a beta of 1.52.

Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.16). On average, analysts expect that Altice USA, Inc. will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Alt S.A.R.L. Next sold 805,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.50, for a total transaction of $19,728,135.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,651,882 shares in the company, valued at $162,971,109. The trade was a 10.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 8,052,288 shares of company stock valued at $197,281,056 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 52.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altice USA

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LPL Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Altice USA during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Altice USA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Altice USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in Altice USA in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Wolverine Trading LLC acquired a new stake in Altice USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 54.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Altice USA

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 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.