Optimum Communications (NYSE:OPTU) Shares Up 8.3% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Optimum Communications, Inc. (NYSE:OPTU) shot up 8.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $1.2450 and last traded at $1.2450. Approximately 692,670 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 5,048,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on OPTU. Evercore set a $1.25 target price on shares of Optimum Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Optimum Communications from $2.00 to $1.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Optimum Communications from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Optimum Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Optimum Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Optimum Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $0.95.

Optimum Communications Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $645.62 million, a P/E ratio of -0.14 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Michael Olsen sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.59, for a total value of $31,800.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,199,781 shares in the company, valued at $1,907,651.79. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 60,000 shares of company stock worth $80,000 over the last quarter. 43.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Optimum Communications

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OPTU. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in Optimum Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,002,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Optimum Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,297,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Optimum Communications in the fourth quarter worth $27,135,000. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Optimum Communications in the fourth quarter worth $24,478,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Optimum Communications by 11.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,803,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,217,000 after acquiring an additional 879,589 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

Optimum Communications Company Profile

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 approximately five million 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.