CommScope (NASDAQ:COMM) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

CommScope Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:COMM) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.61, but opened at $6.84. CommScope shares last traded at $6.41, with a volume of 2,143,523 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of CommScope from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $5.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.50.

CommScope Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of -1.29 and a beta of 1.95.

CommScope (NASDAQ:COMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. CommScope had a negative return on equity of 1.01% and a negative net margin of 18.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that CommScope Holding Company, Inc. will post -0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CommScope

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in CommScope by 415.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 188,182 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 151,640 shares in the last quarter. Monarch Alternative Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of CommScope in the 3rd quarter valued at about $16,623,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in CommScope in the second quarter worth about $144,000. XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in CommScope by 263.1% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 198,264 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 143,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in CommScope during the third quarter valued at approximately $894,000. 88.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CommScope Company Profile

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.