ATUS received an upgrade from Bernstein to "outperform" from "market perform"
The shares of Altice USA Inc (NYSE:ATUS) are up 2.7% at $26.77 this morning, after the cable television name received an upgrade from Bernstein to “outperform” from “market perform." The analyst in coverage said that the security is affordably priced at the moment, and that ATUS has a durable portfolio of digital infrastructure assets, with investments set to expand into 2021.
On the charts, the equity has experienced its fair share of volatility over the past few months. Still, shares are much better off than during their mid-March lows near the $15 level, with the stock's September rally coming just shy of a fresh annual high. And while ATUS is now struggling with overhead pressure at the $27 mark, it sill sports a six-month lead of 12.3%.
Analysts were already optimistic towards the equity coming into today, with nine of the 13 in question sporting a "strong buy" rating, and four carrying a tepid "hold." Echoing this, the stock's 12-month consensus target price of $35.07 is a whopping 30.4% premium to current levels.
That bullish sentiment is reiterated in the options pits, where calls are popular. In the last 50 days, 9,014 calls have been exchanged, compared to 2,885 puts. Even further, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.23 stands higher than just 5% of readings from the past year. This implies short-term option traders have rarely been more call-biased.
Investors looking to get in on Altice stock's next move may want to consider options. The equity's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 37% sits in the relatively low 14th percentile of its annual range. In other words, option traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment.