Telesat (NASDAQ:TSAT) Stock Price Down 7.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Telesat Corporation (NASDAQ:TSAT) shares dropped 7.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $48.11 and last traded at $48.5010. Approximately 92,534 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 190,759 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.31.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on TSAT. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Telesat from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Telesat from $19.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Telesat in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, New Street Research began coverage on shares of Telesat in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

Institutional Trading of Telesat

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSAT. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. increased its stake in Telesat by 307.3% in the 3rd quarter. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. now owns 409,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,512,000 after acquiring an additional 309,153 shares during the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Telesat by 261.5% in the 4th quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 134,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,919,000 after buying an additional 97,411 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Telesat by 245.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 128,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,739,000 after buying an additional 91,272 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in shares of Telesat by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 175,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,638,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Telesat by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 105,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,779,000 after buying an additional 47,725 shares during the last quarter.

Telesat Stock Up 2.1%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $44.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.56. The stock has a market cap of $774.05 million, a P/E ratio of -5.78 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Telesat (NASDAQ:TSAT) last issued 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 company had revenue of $62.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.03 million. Telesat had a negative return on equity of 4.02% and a negative net margin of 47.57%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Telesat Corporation will post -3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telesat Company Profile

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.