CommScope (NASDAQ:COMM) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of CommScope (NASDAQ:COMM) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on COMM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised CommScope from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of CommScope in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.75.

CommScope Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of CommScope stock opened at $5.71 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4.52 and its 200-day moving average is $5.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -1.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.06. CommScope has a 12-month low of $1.05 and a 12-month high of $7.19.

CommScope (NASDAQ:COMM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. CommScope had a negative return on equity of 1.01% and a negative net margin of 18.10%. CommScope’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. Analysts expect that CommScope will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in CommScope by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,752,737 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $118,542,000 after buying an additional 694,363 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in CommScope by 8.2% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,050,618 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $53,369,000 after purchasing an additional 761,605 shares in the last quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. purchased a new position in CommScope in the first quarter valued at about $32,806,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CommScope by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,126,442 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,715,000 after purchasing an additional 14,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in CommScope by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,421,300 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,035,000 after purchasing an additional 421,000 shares in the last quarter. 88.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CommScope

CommScope Holding Company, Inc provides infrastructure solutions for communications, data center, and entertainment networks worldwide. The company operates through Connectivity and Cable Solutions (CCS); Outdoor Wireless Networks (OWN); Networking, Intelligent Cellular and Security Solutions (NICS), and Access Network Solutions (ANS) segments.