Brokerages forecast that Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNSL) will report earnings of $0.12 per share for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Three analysts have provided estimates for Consolidated Communications Holdings’ earnings. The highest EPS estimate is $0.15 and the lowest is $0.10. Consolidated Communications Holdings posted earnings per share of $0.16 in the same quarter last year, which suggests a negative year over year growth rate of 25%. The business is expected to announce its next earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd.
According to Zacks, analysts expect that Consolidated Communications Holdings will report full year earnings of $0.54 per share for the current financial year, with EPS estimates ranging from $0.49 to $0.58. For the next year, analysts anticipate that the firm will post earnings of $0.64 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $0.57 to $0.69. Zacks Investment Research’s earnings per share averages are an average based on a survey of sell-side research firms that follow Consolidated Communications Holdings.
Consolidated Communications Holdings (NASDAQ:CNSL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. Consolidated Communications Holdings had a net margin of 0.09% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $169.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis.
A number of brokerages recently commented on CNSL. BidaskClub lowered shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 30th. UBS AG upgraded shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 9th. Citigroup Inc. upgraded shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial, Inc. upgraded shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.60.
Shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings (NASDAQ CNSL) traded down 1.61% during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.38. 476,863 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. Consolidated Communications Holdings has a 52 week low of $17.41 and a 52 week high of $30.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6126.67 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $19.02 and its 200-day moving average is $21.73.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, October 15th will be paid a $0.3874 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 12th. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.43%. Consolidated Communications Holdings’s payout ratio is currently 15,500.00%.
In other Consolidated Communications Holdings news, Director Richard Anthony Lumpkin purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.17 per share, for a total transaction of $101,601.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 12,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,826.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert J. Currey purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.33 per share, for a total transaction of $96,650.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 48,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $937,408.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 14,800 shares of company stock worth $283,701 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.
A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CNSL. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings by 97,076.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,040,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,887,000 after buying an additional 7,033,214 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings by 85.9% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,500,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,209,000 after buying an additional 693,132 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings by 11.1% in the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,029,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,462,000 after buying an additional 601,410 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,189,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings by 7.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,607,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $131,326,000 after buying an additional 380,770 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.72% of the company’s stock.
Consolidated Communications Holdings Company Profile
Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc is a holding company with operating subsidiaries that provide integrated communications services in consumer, commercial and carrier channels in California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.
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