Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 25,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications in the third quarter worth $205,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Shenandoah Telecommunications by 17.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in Shenandoah Telecommunications during the 3rd quarter worth $333,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Shenandoah Telecommunications during the 3rd quarter worth about $340,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its position in Shenandoah Telecommunications by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 19,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 6,777 shares in the last quarter. 61.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BWS Financial upgraded shares of Shenandoah Telecommunications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Price Performance

Shenandoah Telecommunications stock opened at $13.40 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.97. The stock has a market cap of $676.03 million, a P/E ratio of 83.76 and a beta of 0.52. Shenandoah Telecommunications has a 12-month low of $13.33 and a 12-month high of $25.51.

Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $72.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.85 million. Shenandoah Telecommunications had a return on equity of 1.24% and a net margin of 2.80%. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Shenandoah Telecommunications will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Profile

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of broadband communication services and cell tower colocation space in the Mid-Atlantic portion of the United States. It operates in two segments, Broadband and Tower. The company Broadband segment offers broadband, video, and voice services to residential and commercial customers in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky through hybrid fiber coaxial cable under the Shentel brand; and fiber optic services under the Glo Fiber brand name.