Short Interest in Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) Increases By 7.1%

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) saw a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,220,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the March 31st total of 11,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.2 days. Currently, 12.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Charter Communications

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHTR. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charter Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $508,684,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Charter Communications in the 4th quarter worth $310,727,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Charter Communications by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,873,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,671,608,000 after acquiring an additional 427,922 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Charter Communications by 21.0% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,459,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $641,762,000 after acquiring an additional 253,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charter Communications by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,233,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,337,000 after acquiring an additional 242,448 shares during the period. 81.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Charter Communications Stock Performance

CHTR stock opened at $259.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $37.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.28, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Charter Communications has a 1 year low of $236.08 and a 1 year high of $458.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $279.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $343.46.

Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $7.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.78 by ($0.23). Charter Communications had a return on equity of 31.42% and a net margin of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $13.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Charter Communications will post 31.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CHTR. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Charter Communications from $280.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup cut their target price on Charter Communications from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Charter Communications from $297.00 to $292.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Charter Communications from $360.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Pivotal Research decreased their target price on shares of Charter Communications from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $356.47.

About Charter Communications

Charter Communications, Inc operates as a broadband connectivity and cable operator company serving residential and commercial customers in the United States. The company offers subscription-based internet, video, and mobile and voice services; a suite of broadband connectivity services, including fixed internet, WiFi, and mobile; Advanced WiFi services; Spectrum Security Shield; in-home WiFi, which provides customers with high performance wireless routers and managed WiFi services to enhance their fixed wireless internet experience; out-of-home WiFi; and Spectrum WiFi services.