Liberty Broadband Co. (NASDAQ:LBRDK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Liberty Broadband Co. (NASDAQ:LBRDK) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,120,000 shares, an increase of 46.6% from the February 13th total of 2,810,000 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 901,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Liberty Broadband Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LBRDK traded up $2.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.38. 548,227 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 869,394. Liberty Broadband has a 12 month low of $46.46 and a 12 month high of $101.50. The company has a market cap of $11.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.63.

Liberty Broadband (NASDAQ:LBRDK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by ($1.63). The company had revenue of $253.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $252.50 million. Liberty Broadband had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 78.07%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Liberty Broadband will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Broadband

In other news, CEO Gregory B. Maffei sold 71,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total value of $5,863,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,827,013 shares in the company, valued at $231,815,066. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Broadband

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Broadband by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,064,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,176,000 after acquiring an additional 95,599 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Liberty Broadband by 6.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,899,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,251,000 after purchasing an additional 415,496 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Liberty Broadband by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,585,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,045,000 after purchasing an additional 686,089 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Liberty Broadband by 125.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,060,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,776,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Finepoint Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Liberty Broadband by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Finepoint Capital LP now owns 2,015,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,694,000 after purchasing an additional 21,200 shares during the period. 80.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Liberty Broadband in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

Liberty Broadband Company Profile

Liberty Broadband Corporation engages in the communications businesses. The company's GCI Holdings segment provides data, wireless, video, voice, and managed services to residential customers, businesses, governmental entities, educational, and medical institutions in Alaska under the GCI brand.