Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Benchmark

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated 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 target price indicates a potential upside of 100.36% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. HSBC cut Liberty Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $26.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Liberty Global from $23.00 to $22.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Liberty Global in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Bank of America cut shares of Liberty Global from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Liberty Global from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.75.

Liberty Global Stock Performance

NASDAQ LBTYA traded up $0.20 on Thursday, reaching $16.47. The stock had a trading volume of 913,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,580,617. Liberty Global has a 1-year low of $15.01 and a 1-year high of $20.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.75 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.19.

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

Insider Activity at Liberty Global

In related news, CAO Jason Waldron sold 11,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.29, for a total transaction of $216,549.54. Following the completion of the sale, 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 at this link. In other Liberty Global news, Director J David Wargo sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.35, for a total value of $520,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 159,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,769,615.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jason Waldron sold 11,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.29, for a total transaction of $216,549.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 70,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,363,147.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,629 shares of company stock worth $2,046,783 in the last ninety days. 11.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. boosted its stake in Liberty Global by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 25,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of Liberty Global by 1.7% during the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 94,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC lifted its position in Liberty Global by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 8,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 2,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Liberty Global by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,326 shares during the last quarter. 37.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.