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

Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,620,000 shares, a growth of 8.5% from the November 30th total of 23,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.8 days. Currently, 11.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altice USA from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Altice USA from $6.00 to $3.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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 firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,055,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $932,366,389.50. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 15,299,331 shares of company stock worth $374,833,610 over the last ninety days. 52.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATUS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Altice USA by 1,617.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,902,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,681,000 after buying an additional 1,792,054 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altice USA by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,682,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,602,000 after acquiring an additional 191,508 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Altice USA by 120.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,527,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,756,000 after acquiring an additional 834,030 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Altice USA by 476.7% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 468,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 387,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Trading LLC purchased a new stake in Altice USA during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

Altice USA Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of ATUS stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $2.41. 2,224,033 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,462,127. Altice USA has a 1 year low of $1.52 and a 1 year high of $3.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2.53 and a 200 day moving average of $2.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of -6.51 and a beta of 1.53.

Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 1.54% and a negative net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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.