Telesat (NASDAQ:TSAT) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Telesat Corporation (NASDAQ:TSAT) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $40.18, but opened at $44.00. Telesat shares last traded at $45.9120, with a volume of 151,214 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TSAT. Zacks Research lowered Telesat from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Telesat in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Telesat in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Telesat in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Telesat in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Telesat has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $33.50.

Telesat Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $761.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.69 and a beta of 2.07.

Telesat (NASDAQ:TSAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($2.21) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.67) by ($1.54). The firm had revenue of $62.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.03 million. Telesat had a negative net margin of 47.57% and a negative return on equity of 4.02%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Telesat Corporation will post -4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Telesat by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the period. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telesat in the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Telesat by 63.3% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473 shares during the period. Senvest Management LLC increased its position in shares of Telesat by 2.2% during the first quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 137,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Telesat by 1,335.3% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 3,552 shares in the last quarter.

About Telesat

Telesat is a leading global satellite operator that designs, builds and delivers high-performance satellite communications solutions across multiple markets. The company operates a fleet of geostationary satellites to provide video distribution, data networking and managed broadband services to media companies, network operators, governments and enterprise customers. Telesat’s infrastructure supports television distribution, cellular backhaul, rural broadband and corporate network applications.

In addition to its geostationary offerings, Telesat is developing a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation known as Lightspeed.