Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA) – Imperial Capital raised their FY2019 earnings per share estimates for shares of Discovery Communications in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, December 4th, according to Zacks Investment Research. Imperial Capital analyst D. Miller now forecasts that the company will earn $2.69 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $2.59. Imperial Capital has a “Inline” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Imperial Capital also issued estimates for Discovery Communications’ Q1 2020 earnings at $0.71 EPS, Q3 2020 earnings at $0.82 EPS and FY2020 earnings at $3.38 EPS.
Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on DISCA. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Discovery Communications in a report on Friday, November 9th. MKM Partners upped their price objective on Discovery Communications to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 5th. Zacks Investment Research raised Discovery Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Discovery Communications to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 10th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upgraded Discovery Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.79.
Shares of DISCA opened at $25.05 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.24. Discovery Communications has a 1 year low of $20.59 and a 1 year high of $34.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.
Discovery Communications (NASDAQ:DISCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 8th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. Discovery Communications had a positive return on equity of 17.05% and a negative net margin of 8.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 57.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share.
In other news, Director Kenneth W. Lowe sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.88, for a total transaction of $1,675,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,236,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,697,412.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.47, for a total value of $1,473,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $294,700. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 178,740 shares of company stock worth $5,335,549 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.73% of the company’s stock.
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Discovery Communications during the third quarter valued at about $122,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Discovery Communications during the third quarter valued at about $172,000. Dupont Capital Management Corp boosted its position in Discovery Communications by 108.8% during the second quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 6,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 3,132 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Equity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Discovery Communications in the third quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Discovery Communications in the third quarter valued at about $202,000. 41.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About Discovery Communications
Discovery, Inc operates as a media company worldwide. The company operates through U.S. Networks, International Networks, and Education and Other segments. It owns and operates various television networks under the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science Channel, Velocity, Discovery Family Channel, Destination America, American Heroes Channel, Discovery Life, The Oprah Winfrey Network, Eurosport, Discovery Kids, DMAX, and Discovery Home & Health brands, as well as other regional television networks.