Liberty Global’s (LBTYA) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their buy rating on shares of Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $33.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on LBTYA. Citigroup upgraded Liberty Global from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Liberty Global from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Liberty Global from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. New Street Research restated a neutral rating on shares of Liberty Global in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Liberty Global from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Liberty Global has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $24.25.

Liberty Global Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LBTYA traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $17.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,059,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,599,900. Liberty Global has a twelve month low of $15.01 and a twelve month high of $20.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $16.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.19.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter. Liberty Global had a negative net margin of 37.27% and a negative return on equity of 14.07%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.59) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Liberty Global will post -0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Global

In other news, CAO Jason Waldron sold 11,226 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.29, for a total transaction of $216,549.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 70,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,363,147.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Liberty Global news, CAO Jason Waldron sold 11,226 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.29, for a total value of $216,549.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 70,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,363,147.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bryan H. Hall sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.24, for a total transaction of $456,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 144,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,643,596.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 113,629 shares of company stock valued at $2,046,783. 11.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Global

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. raised its position in shares of Liberty Global by 4.2% in the third quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 25,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Liberty Global by 148.1% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its position in shares of Liberty Global by 1.7% in the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 94,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC raised its stake in shares of Liberty Global by 45.5% during the 1st quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 8,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 2,715 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Liberty Global by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,326 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 37.20% of the company’s stock.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony, and mobile communications services to residential and business customers. It offers value-added broadband services, such as WiFi features, security, anti-virus, firewall, spam protection, smart home services, online storage solutions, and web spaces; and Connect Box that delivers in-home Wi-Fi service.