Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Earns Buy Rating from Benchmark

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $33.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark’s price target suggests a potential upside of 100.36% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on LBTYA. Bank of America lowered shares of Liberty Global from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on Liberty Global from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Liberty Global from $23.00 to $22.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Liberty Global in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Liberty Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, March 18th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Liberty Global presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.75.

Liberty Global Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LBTYA traded up $0.20 during trading on Thursday, reaching $16.47. 913,721 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,580,617. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Liberty Global has a 52-week low of $15.01 and a 52-week high of $20.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of -1.75 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.19.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter. Liberty Global had a negative return on equity of 19.26% and a negative net margin of 54.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.59) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Liberty Global will post -0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jason Waldron sold 11,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.29, for a total value of $216,549.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 70,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,363,147.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea Salvato sold 32,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.70, for a total transaction of $573,533.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,462.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jason Waldron sold 11,226 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $1,363,147.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,629 shares of company stock valued at $2,046,783 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LBTYA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Liberty Global by 148.1% during 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. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in Liberty Global in the fourth quarter valued at $106,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Global in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. Tevis Investment Management purchased a new position in Liberty Global in the first quarter worth approximately $180,000. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC acquired a new position in Liberty Global in the third quarter valued at $209,000. Hedge funds and other 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.