Short Interest in Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS) Rises By 8.5%

Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,620,000 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the November 30th total of 23,620,000 shares. Approximately 11.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Altice USA from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Altice USA from $6.00 to $3.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.30.

Insider Activity

In other Altice USA news, Director Alt S.A.R.L. Next sold 805,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.50, for a total transaction of $19,728,061.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,055,771 shares in the company, valued at $932,366,389.50. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,299,331 shares of company stock valued at $374,833,610. 52.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altice USA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Altice USA by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Altice USA during the third quarter worth $27,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altice USA during the second quarter worth $25,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in Altice USA in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wolverine Trading LLC acquired a new stake in Altice USA in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

Altice USA Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of ATUS traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $2.41. 2,224,033 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,462,127. Altice USA has a fifty-two week low of $1.52 and a fifty-two week high of $3.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $2.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.51 and a beta of 1.53.

Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.13). Altice USA had a negative net margin of 1.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altice USA will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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.