Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS) Short Interest Down 9.6% in November

Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 23,620,000 shares, a drop of 9.6% from the November 15th total of 26,140,000 shares. Approximately 11.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.1 days.

Altice USA Trading Down 2.7 %

ATUS traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $2.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,550,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,498,740. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.62 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.20. Altice USA has a 52-week low of $1.52 and a 52-week high of $3.66.

Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Altice USA will post -0.01 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ATUS. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Altice USA from $6.00 to $3.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Altice USA from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.30.

Insider Activity at Altice USA

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 value of $19,728,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 12,883,641 shares of company stock worth $315,649,205 in the last three months. Insiders own 52.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Altice USA

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. 140 Summer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Altice USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,004,000. King Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Altice USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,100,000. LMR Partners LLP grew its position in Altice USA by 217.5% in the third quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,380,000 after acquiring an additional 2,055,000 shares in the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Altice USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,080,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in Altice USA by 172.6% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 2,210,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.85% of the company’s stock.

Altice USA 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 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.