Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.20 EPS

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) issued its earnings results on Friday. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.20, FiscalAI reports. Viasat had a negative net margin of 13.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT traded up $0.32 on Friday, reaching $35.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,124,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,501,683. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.75 and a beta of 1.24. Viasat has a 52-week low of $6.69 and a 52-week high of $40.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $33.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $3,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 197,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,111,991. The trade was a 33.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Viasat during the 1st quarter valued at about $105,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Viasat by 323.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,157 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 9,289 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Viasat during the second quarter worth approximately $186,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 2,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,758 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.29.

Viasat Company Profile

Viasat, Inc provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide. The company's Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services, including broadband internet access and voice over internet protocol services to consumers and businesses; in-flight entertainment and aviation software services to commercial airlines and private business jets; satellite-based connectivity services; mobile broadband services, including satellite-based internet services to energy offshore vessels, cruise ships, consumer ferries, and yachts; and energy services, which include ultra-secure solutions IP connectivity, bandwidth-optimized over-the-top applications, industrial internet-of-things big data enablement, and industry-leading machine learning analytics.