Traders Buy Large Volume of Community Health Systems Call Options (NYSE:CYH)

Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CYH) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 11,874 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 447% compared to the typical volume of 2,170 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CYH has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Community Health Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays started coverage on shares of Community Health Systems in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $3.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Community Health Systems from $6.50 to $5.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Community Health Systems has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.20.

Community Health Systems Trading Up 2.4 %

CYH opened at $3.03 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3.09 and its 200-day moving average is $3.05. Community Health Systems has a 1-year low of $2.01 and a 1-year high of $6.53. The company has a market cap of $421.11 million, a P/E ratio of -2.94 and a beta of 1.52.

Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.44). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Community Health Systems had a negative return on equity of 5.51% and a negative net margin of 1.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Community Health Systems will post -0.45 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community Health Systems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CYH. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Community Health Systems by 78.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 78,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 34,473 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. purchased a new position in Community Health Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Community Health Systems by 51.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 41,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 14,104 shares during the period. Strs Ohio grew its stake in shares of Community Health Systems by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 164,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 18,800 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Community Health Systems by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,715,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,974,000 after purchasing an additional 292,351 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.99% of the company’s stock.

Community Health Systems Company Profile

Community Health Systems, Inc owns, leases, and operates general acute care hospitals in the United States. It offers general acute care, emergency room, general and specialty surgery, critical care, internal medicine, obstetrics, diagnostic, psychiatric, and rehabilitation services, as well as skilled nursing and home care services.