Discovery Communications, Inc. (DISCA) Upgraded at Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. upgraded shares of Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $29.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $30.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. TheStreet lowered Discovery Communications from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. MKM Partners restated a neutral rating and set a $30.00 price target (up from $27.00) on shares of Discovery Communications in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Cowen and Company restated a hold rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Discovery Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. BidaskClub lowered Discovery Communications from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $32.00 price target on Discovery Communications and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $28.18.

Shares of Discovery Communications (NASDAQ:DISCA) traded down 4.08% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.73. The company had a trading volume of 7,408,527 shares. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 1.59. Discovery Communications has a 12-month low of $23.68 and a 12-month high of $30.25.

Discovery Communications (NASDAQ:DISCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. Discovery Communications had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 16.88%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Discovery Communications’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Discovery Communications will post $2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY NOTICE: “[[title]]” was first posted by [[site]] and is the sole property of of [[site]]. If you are reading this story on another site, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of U.S. & international trademark and copyright laws. The legal version of this story can be read at [[permalink]].

In other Discovery Communications news, Director S Decker Anstrom purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.05 per share, for a total transaction of $230,500.00. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.01 per share, with a total value of $460,200.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,200. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DISCA. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its position in Discovery Communications by 5.8% in the first quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 3,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Discovery Communications by 24.7% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discovery Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $133,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discovery Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Discovery Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $182,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.26% of the company’s stock.

About Discovery Communications

Discovery Communications, Inc (Discovery) is a global media company. The Company provides content across multiple distribution platforms, including pay-television (pay-TV), free-to-air (FTA) and broadcast television, Websites, digital distribution arrangements and content licensing agreements. Its segments include U.S.